Research Publications (Food Safety)

The 2021 FSIS Stabilization Guidelines for Meat and Poultry Products (Appendix B) Option 1.2 limits Phase 1 cooling from 48.8-26.7°C in uncured meats to 1 hour. However, this time restriction is impractical to achieve in large diameter whole muscle products.

The application of plant extracts (PEs) could be a promising option to satisfy consumers’ demand for natural additives to inhibit growth of variable pathogenic bacteria. Thus, the aim of this study was to develop a standardized microdilution method to examine the antimicrobial effects of ten hydrophilic plant extracts against two strains of C. perfringens facing various food-relevant influencing factors.

In Japan, strategies for ensuring food safety have been developed without reliable scientific evidence on the relation between foodborne infections and foods. The aim of this research was to provide information on the proportions of foodborne diseases caused by seven major causative pathogens ( Campylobacte r spp., Salmonella spp., EHEC, V. parahaemolyticus , Clostridium perfringens , Staphylococcus aureus , and Norovirus) attributable to foods using analysis of outbreak surveillance data.

The Florida Complaint and Outbreak Reporting System (FL-CORS) database is used by the Florida Department of Health’s Food and Waterborne Disease Program (FWDP) as one of the tools to detect foodborne disease outbreaks. We present a descriptive and spatial network analysis of the FL-CORS data collected during 2015-2018.

Journal of Food Protection, Volume 82, Issue 7, Page 1141-1147, July 2019.

Journal of Food Protection, Volume 80, Issue 10, Page 1697-1704, October 2017.

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This study analyzed the behavior of Clostridium perfringens in individual ingredients and tamales containing different pathogen concentrations upon exposure to different temperatures and methods of cooking, storage, and reheating. In ground pork, C. perfringens cells were inactivated when exposed to 95°C for 30 min. Three lots of picadillo inoculated with 0, 3, and 5 log CFU/g C. perfringens cells, respectively, were exposed to different storage temperatures.

Increased popularity of natural and organic processed meats can be attributed to the growing consumer demand for preservative-free foods, including processed meats. To meet this consumer demand, meat processors have begun using celery juice concentrate in place of sodium nitrite to create products labeled as no-nitrate or no-nitrite-added meat products while maintaining the characteristics unique to conventionally cured processed meats.

King, Amanda M. et al. The antimicrobial impact of purified and natural sources of both nitrite and ascorbate were evaluated against Clostridium perfringens during the postthermal processing cooling period of deli-style turkey breast. The objective of phase I was to assess comparable concentrations of nitrite (0 or 100 ppm) and ascorbate (0 or 547 ppm) from both purified and natural sources.

Mohr, T. B. et al. Heat-resistant spores of Clostridium perfringens may germinate and multiply in cooked meat and poultry products when the rate and extent of cooling does not occur in a timely manner. Therefore, six cooling models (PMP 7.0 broth model; PMIP uncured beef, chicken, and pork models; Smith-Schaffner version 3; and UK IFR ComBase Perfringens Predictor) were evaluated for relative performance in predicting growth of C.

King, Amanda M. et al. Organic acids and sodium nitrite have long been shown to provide antimicrobial activity during chilling of cured meat products. However, neither purified organic acids nor NaNO2 is permitted in products labeled natural and both are generally avoided in clean-label formulations; efficacy of their replacement is not well understood.