{"id":312433,"date":"2026-02-27T04:39:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T04:39:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/312433\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T04:39:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T04:39:07","slug":"nanoplastics-can-interact-with-salmonella-to-affect-food-safety-study-shows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/312433\/","title":{"rendered":"Nanoplastics Can Interact with Salmonella to Affect Food Safety, Study Shows"},"content":{"rendered":"

Newswise \u2014 URBANA, Ill. \u2013 Plastic products are ubiquitous in our food supply chain, shedding microplastics into every part of the human ecosystem. As they degrade, microplastics break down into even smaller fragments called nanoplastics \u2014 tiny particles that can affect biological molecules in ways not fully understood. In a\u00a0new study<\/a>, researchers at the\u00a0University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign<\/a> examined what happens when nanoplastics interact with Salmonella, potentially affecting food safety and human health.<\/p>\n

\u201cSalmonella enterica is a major foodborne pathogen that is often found in meat, poultry, and ready-to-eat food. We are testing ground turkey from grocery stores in our lab for a\u00a0study on food safety<\/a>, and finding that it is frequently positive for Salmonella. If you cook the meat properly, you should not have a problem. However, ground turkey is often packaged in plastic, and we wanted to explore how Salmonella react when they come into contact with plastic polymers,\u201d said senior author\u00a0Pratik Banerjee<\/a>, associate professor in the\u00a0Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition<\/a>, part of the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences<\/a> at U of I.<\/p>\n

Banerjee\u2019s team previously studied the interaction of\u00a0nanoplastics and E. coli O157:H7<\/a>, a strain responsible for major outbreaks of severe gastroenteritis. In this study, they focused on Salmonella enterica and polystyrene, a commonly used plastic material for food packaging and disposable utensils.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe examined the physiology of Salmonella in response to nanoplastics, and we found an increased expression of virulence-related genes. The bacteria also formed thicker biofilms, which further indicates they are becoming more virulent,\u201d said\u00a0Jayita De<\/a>, a graduate student in Banerjee’s lab and lead author on the paper.<\/p>\n

Biofilm is an agglomeration of microorganisms growing together to form a protective layer, increasing survival for pathogenic bacteria under physiological stress. You might see biofilms as a slimy film in your kitchen sink or on your cutting board after handling raw meat.<\/p>\n

However, while Salmonella initially showed increased virulence, prolonged exposure to nanoplastics slowed its stress response.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the bacteria first encounter nanoplastic particles, they go into offensive mode and become more virulent. But after a while, they start losing their resources and energy, so they switch to defensive mode, which allows them to persist in the environment for a longer time. If the concentration of nanoplastics rises, they can again switch to an offensive mode. It\u2019s a trade-off between offense and defense,\u201d De said.<\/p>\n

The overall conclusion is that interaction with nanoplastics induces behavioral changes in Salmonella enterica, but further research is needed to determine the direction and impact of those changes.<\/p>\n

Equally concerning is the possibility that nanoplastics can affect antibiotic resistance in Salmonella, Banerjee said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny compound that puts physiological stress on the bacteria can trigger antimicrobial resistance. Nanoplastics are not antimicrobials, but mere exposure to them could convert bacteria that previously were not resistant to a particular antibiotic in a process called cross-resistance,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

This is the topic of an ongoing study, but initial findings indicate that polystyrene nanoplastics can cause Salmonella to increase the expression of antimicrobial-resistant genes, Banerjee added.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, we don\u2019t want to sound the alarm and advocate that people stop using plastics. Plastic packaging provides a lot of benefits, such as reducing food spoilage and waste while keeping expenses low. We don\u2019t know yet whether this is something we should be worried about,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Banerjee\u2019s research team is among the first to examine the interactions between foodborne pathogens and plastic particles, thereby advancing this emerging field from a food safety perspective. He hopes other researchers around the world will pick up the mantle, because there is a lot more to learn about consequences, risks, and tolerances before any policy recommendations can be made.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The\u00a0paper<\/a>, \u201cPolystyrene nanoplastics and pathogen plasticity: Toxic threat or tolerated stressor in Salmonella enterica?\u201d is published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials [DOI: 10.1016\/j.jhazmat.2026.141264<\/a>].<\/p>\n

Research in the College of ACES is made possible in part by Hatch funding<\/a> from USDA\u2019s National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Additional funding was provided by a USDA-NIFA project (# ILLU-698-981<\/a>) and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Research Board.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Newswise \u2014 URBANA, Ill. \u2013 Plastic products are ubiquitous in our food supply chain, shedding microplastics into every…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":312434,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[985,4205,4206,5412,37318,2806,163,85,46,4718,156467,983,4207],"class_list":{"0":"post-312433","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-all-journal-news","9":"tag-college-of-agricultural","10":"tag-consumer-and-environmental-sciences","11":"tag-environmental-science","12":"tag-food-and-water-safety","13":"tag-food-science","14":"tag-health","15":"tag-il","16":"tag-israel","17":"tag-microbiome","18":"tag-nanoplasticssalmonellasalmonella-enteritidisfood-safety","19":"tag-newswise","20":"tag-university-of-illinois-urbana-champaign"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312433","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=312433"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312433\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/312434"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=312433"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=312433"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=312433"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}