| Summary: | Community-acquired Clostridium difficile infections have recently been increasing in incidence and severity. Several studies have isolated C. difficile spores from livestock and retail meats, suggesting that food may play a role in transmission. No research has been done, however, on what food conditions might allow for the survival and/or growth of the bacterium. We therefore modelled the minimum thresholds for C. difficile growth under low pH, water activity (aw), and temperature. We also sampled retail ground meats, cheese, and milk for the presence of C. difficile spores and subtyped food isolates for comparison with clinical strains. We found that C. difficile growth could be prevented by refrigeration temperatures. C. difficile spores were also detected for the first time in Canada in ground lamb, ground turkey, ground chicken, cheese and milk. The majority of these food isolates were genetically similar to epidemic strain NAP7/078, suggesting that food may not be a direct vector for C. difficile transmission, but could still be clinically relevant.
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