OPTIMIZATION OF PROCESSING METHODS FOR PRODUCING READY-TO-EAT MEAT PRODUCTS

Goal 1. Evaluate sausage processing methods which potentially impact lethality of Salmonella during cooking and smoking processes.Goal 2. Validate the pathogen lethality of drying processes during the increasingly popular production of traditional Italian salami.Goal 3. Evaluate the use of phytate, from vegetable sources, as a replacement for inorganic phosphates in cooked meat products.