ReviewJournal of food science2026
Biofilm Formation and Spore-Mediated Persistence of Clostridium perfringens in Meat and Poultry Processing Environments and Their Implications for Control Strategies.
Review in Journal of food science, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Clostridium perfringens (C. perfringens) biofilms pose a persistent challenge in meat and poultry processing environments due to their structural resilience, spore-mediated survival and toxin-associated virulence. These biofilms readily develop on food-contact surfaces under typical processing conditions including organic residue accumulation, temperature fluctuations, and localized anaerobic niches, leading to increased tolerance to sanitation and thermal treatments. Mechanistically, biofilm resilience in C. perfringens is governed by the integration of sporulation processes, quorum sensing-regulated gene expression and extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) matrix formation, which collectively enhance stress tolerance, limit antimicrobial penetration, and facilitate persistence under fluctuating environmental conditions. The interaction between spore formation and EPS architecture further promotes survival during thermal processing and enables rapid re-establishment of biofilms following sanitation. This review synthesizes current knowledge on the formation and persistence of C. perfringens biofilms, key environmental drivers in meat and poultry processing systems and the mechanistic basis of their stress resistance and survival strategies. It also critically examines how these mechanisms influence the efficacy of existing intervention strategies. It further evaluates the limitations of conventional control strategies and highlights emerging approaches for biofilm prevention and control, including food-grade antimicrobials, surface engineering, enzymatic disruption, and microbiome-based interventions, with emphasis on their modes of action and applicability in industrial settings. Overall, this review provides a mechanistic and systems-level perspective to support the development of more effective biofilm control strategies in meat processing environments.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.