Salmonella in tahini and tahini-based products
What it found
Twenty salmonellosis outbreaks worldwide have been linked to eating tahini and tahini-based products such as halva and hummus, causing 1662 cases, 88 hospitalisations and 1 death.
The review also covers how the bacteria survive in these foods and what can be done to control them.
What they found
Studies in people
Outbreaks and cases
Twenty salmonellosis outbreaks worldwide have been linked to tahini and tahini-based products, with 1662 cases, 88 hospitalisations and 1 death. The first reported outbreak was in the United States in 1995, with 137 people sick.
Canadian outbreaks and recalls
In Canada, tahini and products made from it have been recalled multiple times between 2011 and 2021 because of Salmonella. In 2018, cases were linked to tahini imported from Israel, and in 2020 a hummus outbreak in one region had 45 laboratory-confirmed cases and 185 symptomatic cases that were not laboratory confirmed.
Animal and lab studies
Survival in tahini and halva
Salmonella cannot grow in sesame seeds, tahini or halva because the water activity is too low, but it can survive for at least 4 to 12 months. Survival was longer when tahini and halva were stored in the fridge rather than at room temperature.
Roasting and heat treatment
Roasting sesame seeds can reduce Salmonella, but how well it works depends on the moisture level of the seeds. In lab tests, seeds with higher moisture lost more bacteria during roasting than drier seeds, and a final heat treatment of tahini at up to 90 °C for one hour reduced Salmonella by at most 3 log CFU/mL.
Other control methods tested
In lab tests, gamma irradiation, microwave heating, radiofrequency heating with cinnamon oil vapour, and adding essential oils or organic acids to tahini all reduced Salmonella levels. Some essential oils affected the taste and acceptability of the tahini.
Other findings
Contamination levels in products
Salmonella levels found in tahini and tahini-based products linked to outbreaks ranged from less than 0.03 to 0.46 MPN/g. Based on these levels, eating as little as 2 g of contaminated product could lead to illness.
What the authors conclude
- They say the issue of Salmonella in tahini and tahini-based products is of global concern and requires international cooperation for effective management, trace-back and source attribution.
- They advise that preventing contamination is key, since completely eliminating Salmonella from a contaminated batch of tahini is difficult to achieve.
- They stress that a validated roasting procedure with strict ingredient and parameter control is important, along with process verification and environmental monitoring of the production facility.
How it was done
Tahini and other low-moisture foods are increasingly recognised as sources of Salmonella exposure, and the authors wanted to give a Canadian perspective on the problem and gather what is known about how the bacteria survive in these products.
The authors reviewed published studies and outbreak reports on Salmonella in sesame seeds, tahini and halva, including surveys of contamination levels, laboratory survival experiments, and tests of treatments such as roasting, irradiation and essential oils.
What it can’t tell you
- This is a review of published studies and outbreak reports, so it cannot prove that any particular tahini product or production practice causes illness.
- Many of the survival and treatment findings come from lab tests on sesame seeds, tahini or halva, and may not reflect what happens in real manufacturing settings.
- The review notes several knowledge gaps, including how different Salmonella serovars respond to drying and heat, and whether lab findings apply to all tahini products.
Who paid
- Conflicts
- The authors declare no conflict of interest.
The paper
- Title
- Salmonella enterica Outbreaks Linked to the Consumption of Tahini and Tahini-Based Products
- Type
- ReviewThe authors read earlier studies and describe what they found. It isn’t a new study.
- Evidence
- Studies in people · animals · lab
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Licence
- CC BY. Words in quotation marks are the authors’; the rest is our summary.
- Cite
- Coulombe G, Tamber S (2022). Salmonella enterica Outbreaks Linked to the Consumption of Tahini and Tahini-Based Products. Microorganisms. doi:10.3390/microorganisms10112299Free full textPubMed 36422369DOI
Summary written 30 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error