Research Publications (Food Safety)

Cooked, uncured meat products packaged under reduced oxygen packaging conditions require the control of anaerobic and facultative anaerobic pathogens if they are held at temperatures greater than 3°C at retail or consumer level. The objective of this study was to determine the inhibition of Listeria monocytogenes and Clostridium botulinum in cooked, uncured shredded turkey and pork formulated with synthetic or clean label antimicrobials.

Fresh vegetables have been linked to multiple foodborne outbreaks in the U.S., with Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella enterica identified as leading causes. Beyond raw vegetables, cooked vegetables can also pose food safety concerns due to improper cooking temperature and time combinations or post-cooking contamination.

Two recent listeriosis outbreaks have occurred in the United States and Europe due to contaminated individually quick-frozen (IQF) vegetables. While one of the outbreaks was due to frozen vegetables considered ready-to-eat (RTE), the other was linked to frozen corn whose packaging contained cooking instructions and was considered not-ready-to-eat (NRTE). However, consumers may thaw certain frozen vegetables and consume without cooking.

Thermal inactivation studies were undertaken on Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella spp. inoculated on the surface of country ham. Hams (average = ca. 3.4 ± 0.5 kg each; average = ca. ≥18% shrinkage) were used as provided by the processor (i.e., “salted hams”), desalted in tap water (i.e., “desalted hams”), or dried for an additional period (i.e., “extra dried hams”). Hams were surface inoculated (ca.

Food-contact surfaces showing signs of wear pose a substantial risk of Listeria monocytogenes contamination and may serve as persistent sources of cross-contamination in fresh produce packinghouses. This study offers a comprehensive exploration into the influence of surface defects on the efficacies of commonly used sanitizers against L.

Commercial cheese brines are used repeatedly over extended periods, potentially for years, and can be a reservoir for salt-tolerant pathogens, such as Listeria monocytogenes. The objective of this study was to determine the inactivation of L. monocytogenes in cheese brines treated with hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) (0, 50, and 100 ppm) at holding temperatures representing manufacturing conditions.

In 2016, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and state partners investigated nine Listeria monocytogenes infections linked to frozen vegetables. The investigation began with two environmental L.

The goals of this study were to evaluate the persistence and the virulence potential of Listeria monocytogenes isolated from beef carcasses obtained in processing facilities in the Southern region of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, based on pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), invasion ability in human colorectal carcinoma cells (HCT-116), InlA expression by western blot (WB) and identification of mutation points in the inlA . PFGE profiles demonstrated that L.

The aim of the present study was to investigate the ability of natural plant-derivate (flavonoid compounds) products to reduce and/or inhibit the biofilm-forming ability of Listeria monocytogenes. A collection of 500 synthetic and natural flavonoids were tested on strains of L. monocytogenes for their antimicrobial and anti-biofilm activity.

In this study, we evaluated the microbial contamination status of cold dishes consumed by residents of Jilin Province and investigated to determine the incidence of four pathogenic bacteria in cold dishes. A total of 300 samples of cold dishes including meat, vegetable and mixed products, were collected from three different purchasing places: supermarkets, farmers' markets and mobile vendors.

The object of this study was to examine non-thermal treatments to reduce foodborne pathogens in raw beef. Foodborne-illness pathogens were inoculated in the raw beef.

The use of antimicrobials in formulations of ready-to-eat meat and poultry products has been identified as a major strategy to control Listeria monocytogenes . The USDA-FSIS recommends no more than 2-logs of Listeria outgrowth over the stated shelf life if antimicrobials are used as a control measure for a product with post-lethality environmental exposure. This study was designed to understand the efficacy of a clean label antimicrobial against the growth of L.

Beef is rich in various nutrients while easily spoils due to contamination by pathogens, thus it is of great significance to develop a bactericidal method to inactivate meat-borne pathogens and meanwhile maintain the freshness of beef.

Reference methods developed for L. monocytogenes are commonly used for Listeria spp. detection. Improved method performance data are needed, since the genus Listeria has expanded from 6 to 26 species and now includes several Listeria sensu lato species, which can show phenotypes distinct from Listeria sensu stricto .

Cheese made with unpasteurised milk has been associated with outbreaks of illness. However, there are limited data on the prevalence of shiga-toxin producing E. coli (STEC) in these products, and a lack of clarity over the significance of E. coli as general indicators of hygiene in raw milk cheeses. The aim of this study was to provide further data to address both of these issues as well as assessing the overall microbiological quality of raw milk cheeses available to consumers in England.

This manuscript reviews 18 years of voluntary recalls for commercially sold tuna in the United States. This recall information is a valuable indicator of the failure to implement procedures for food safety. The voluntary recalls involve fresh, frozen, processed, hermetically sealed and retorted in a shelf stable pack (i.e., canned tuna), and formulated into other tuna products.

The aim of this study was to assess the presence and antimicrobial susceptibility profile of the molecularly serogrouped Listeria monocytogenes isolates in different animal origin food products, collected from a county situated in the historical region of Transylvania, Central Romania. A total of 7.7% (17/221) of the screened samples were positive for L.

Recent apple-related recall and outbreak events have exposed a need for better food safety controls along the supply chain. Following harvest apples can be stored under a controlled atmosphere for up to one year after harvest before packing and distribution, making the crop susceptible to many opportunities for contamination that increase the quantity of postharvest losses. Botrytis cinerea (BC) and Penicillium expansum (PE) cause significant rot-associated losses to the apple industry.

Previous empirical evidence has demonstrated that low socioeconomic status (SES) communities have higher rates of gastroenteritis; however, there is a paucity of literature on the safety and quality of food (fresh produce) accessible to these communities. The overarching goal of this study was to investigate the microbial safety and quality of fresh leafy greens from low and high SES neighborhoods in the Houston, Texas area.

The objectives of this investigation were a) to isolate bacteria from different foods (dairy products, fruits, and vegetables) and evaluate their probiotic potential and b) to select, identify, and characterize the strain with the highest probiotic potential.