Abstract
The survival of Salmonella Montevideo and Salmonella heidelberg in dry milk, cocoa powder, poultry feed, and meat and bone meal was studied at three water activities (a
) in the range of 0.4 to 0.75. S. montevideo was more resistant to the various dry environments than S. heidelberg . Salmonellae were enumerated immediately after inoculation, after 2 d, and after 1, 3, 7 and 14 wk. Survival was greater at a
of 0.43 and 0.52 than at 0.75 a
. Based on these findings and due to the marked differences in survival observed in the different products equilibrated at a specific a
value, it is concluded that the survival of salmonellae in a dry product cannot be predicted on the basis of the a
alone.