MICROBIOLOGICAL SAFETY OF SOFT DRINKS

For the past few decades, beverage manufacturers have spent on solving a global problem: to achieve products that are microbiologically safe and highly resistant. This goal was successfully achieved by improving production sanitary condition, as well as by expanding pest microorganisms' knowledges. However, significant changes are currently being observed in non-alcoholic drinks assortment: juice drinks, non-alcoholic malt drinks, tooth-friendly drinks, functional drinks are becoming increasingly popular. There is a tendency to create drinks of more complex composition, enriched with additional nutrients, dietary fiber, with low acidity and low carbonation level. The consumer wants to get more "natural" drinks, without adding chemical preservatives and without negative effects of pasteurization. This leads to loss of many of antimicrobial barriers that existed in traditional drinks. Due to these changes in drinks, number of cases of spoilage will increase. The main types of spoilage microorganisms, lactic acid bacteria and yeast are likely to remain in new drinks, but it is very likely that list of species will expand. It is assumed that role of bacteria in drinks spoilage will increase. New, recently discovered spoilage microorganisms appeared, among which are acid-resistant aerobic bacillus Alicyclobacillus in drinks, bottled in PET bottles, Asaia species in flavored mineral waters, Propionibacterium cyclohexanicum in drinks, enriched with juice, and spore-forming bacteria and enteric bacteria in low acidity drinks. New health risks in drinks production may also arise due to expansion list of countries importing ingredients, as well as due to use of juices with low acidity, in particular vegetable ones, as ingredients. Predictive microbiology will help in predicting and describing behavior of contaminant microorganisms in drinks and in optimizing preservative systems. New challenge, faced by drinks manufacturers is creation of safe products with high resistance and preservation of best taste and aromatic properties with minimal processing. Implementation of this task consists in qualified and scientifically sound combination of antimicrobial barriers. This review contains up-to-date information on microorganisms for spoiling soft drinks and microorganisms that pose food safety risks for consumers.