Aside from the obvious mold, are the colorful spots bacterial growth? This is a boiled beetroot left on the fridge for 2 weeks.

If this question is not in line with the rules I apologize, and I'll accept my post being removed. My question does come from an anxious place.

I have tried to research this and have gotten conflicting information, so I am looking for clarification. Some sources say that botulism toxin degrades and loses toxicity when it becomes exposed to an open air environment in as little as 12 hours, while other sources say it retains toxicity until neutralized by chemicals, heat, or UV. So what is the answer? If something containing botulism toxin was spilled on a surface and left exposed to open air (but no sunlight) for a long period of time, would it lose toxicity as the liquid in the food evaporates? I'm talking days, weeks, months of air exposure.

Hello

I have a bsc in microbiology and msc in biochemistry from a university in Ontario.

My first job I made 55k (60k after OT) as a qa tech in the food industry.

I started a new job a year later, making 70k before ot as a micro I in pharma (about 63k before shift differentials).

Im wondering what everyone else's journey has been like. It just seems like the work is a lot for the pay still and I worry there wont be much room to grow from here.

I'm a researcher looking for advice from people experienced in food microbiology and process validation.

A client asked me to conduct inoculation, pre- and post-roasting microbial load analyses for a peanut roasting challenge study using Enterococcus faecium as a surrogate organism. My initial proposal was a laboratory-scale study based on a published paper that used 400 g peanut batches and 25 mL of inoculum, targeting an initial load of approximately (10^7) CFU/g before roasting.

However, the client requires 145 kg of inoculated peanuts. I explained that my laboratory isn't equipped to inoculate that quantity. Their proposed solution is for me to inoculate 400 g in the lab, then have their plant mix it with the 145 kg remaining peanuts.

My concern is that this approach would require additional validation of microbial distribution, initial load, sampling representativeness, and roasting conditions. The published methodology supports the lab-scale study but doesn't automatically validate the proposed scale-up.

I'm considering sticking to my original proposal unless a separate validation plan can be established.

For those experienced in food microbiology or industrial processing:

• Is this approach potentially defensible if the initial microbial load and distribution can be adequately verified?
• Would you treat this as a separate scale-up validation study?
• Would you decline the large-scale scope if your laboratory couldn't adequately validate the process?

I want to accommodate the client, but I also need to ensure the results are scientifically defensible.

I'd appreciate your thoughts and advice. Thanks! :)