2026/05/28 by Grzegorz Rachon, Alice Foxall, Patrycja Mundzik +3 · 1 voice
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Nursing · #Fermentation and Sensory Analysis #Food Science and Nutritional Studies #Listeria monocytogenes in Food Safety
paper · pdf · doi:10.1080/03610470.2026.2658895
openalex publication_date 2026/05/28 · openalex created_date 2026/05/29 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/21
This study investigated the microbiological quality of non-alcoholic draught beers and examined the effect of carbonation on the survival of pathogens, specifically Escherichia coli O157 and Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Enteritidis. Samples of non-alcoholic draught beers were collected from various outlets across the United Kingdom, while additional data from non-UK beers (United States, Belgium and Spain) were provided by an independent global brewery. One fully carbonated non-alcoholic beer (2.8 v/v) along with its decarbonated variants 1.9, 1.2, 1.0, 0.8 and 0.1 (v/v) were evaluated. Both carbonated and decarbonated versions were tested with and without the addition of sugars (1 g/100 mL of maltose and 0.25 g/100 mL of lactose). Beers were inoculated with three strains of E. coli O157 and Salmonella Enteritidis, and growth and survival were monitored over six months at five time points, in triplicate. Analytical results indicated that the alcohol content in four out of the 90 beers slightly exceeded the regulatory threshold of 0.5% v/v. Overall, 83% of samples tested were classified as microbiologically good or acceptable, while 17% exhibited poor quality, with total aerobic counts exceeding 10,000 CFU/mL. Challenge testing demonstrated that both E. coli and Salmonella were inactivated in fully carbonated beers but were capable of growth in decarbonated and low-carbonated beers. Furthermore, the addition of sugar enhanced survivalof the tested pathogens at specific carbonation levels but increased growth was not observed.