Biofilm formation of Escherichia coli O111 on milk contact stainless steel and rubber surfaces

A biofilm can be defined as a sessile bacterial community of cells that live attached to each other and to surfaces. Attachment and biofilm formation by food-borne pathogens and spoilage microorganisms on food contact surfaces in processing plants are a public health and crosscontamination concern. For this study 16 stainless steel chips and 16 rubber chips were used. E.coli strain was added to the beakers with UHT milk and the samples. The biofilm of Escherichia coli O111 was formed with a mean cell density of 9.56± 0.27, 9.10± 0.15 log CFU/cm2 on stainless steel andrubber respectively.There was no significant difference (p>0.05) between bacterial counts of two type of surfaces. It can be concluded that Escherichiacoli O111 can survive on milk contact surfaces, forming biofilm. This is the first report, as far as we are aware, of biofilm formation by Escherichia coli O111on milk contact stainless steel and rubber surfaces.