Control of Food-Borne Pathogens in Pre-and Post Harvest Environments

Non-Technical Summary: Ready-to-eat foods carry pathogenic bacteria that originate from pre- and post-processing contamination. The purpose of this project is to develop strategies and processes that can reduce the presence of and therefore risk from pathogenic bacteria on ready-to-eat foods. <P> Approach: Poultry meat safety will be addressed at several points in the farm to table process. Objectives include the use of composting to dispose of carcasses from on-farm mortality to eliminate pathogens, to measure the presence of antibiotic resistant bacteria in animal co-products, to develop antimicrobial packaging films and in-package processing parameters to eliminate Listeria monocytogenes from RTE meat and extend shelf life. On-farm interventions will be investigated to reduce pathogens coming from the farm to the processing plant and the consumer. South Carolina plans to continue to evaluate antibiotic and heat resistance of bacteria in the animal co-product stream. The rendering industry is probably reducing these problematic bacteria in the animal production system and studies will be conducted to test this hypothesis. Ready-to-eat meats will continues to be studied with the focus on antimicrobial packaging in combination with in-package pasteurization. The development of antimicrobial films in combination with heat to inactivate Listeria monocytogenes on ready-to-eat poultry meats will be studied using nisin, lysozyme and other new biocidal agents. Various films and coatings will be used including gelatin, direct application to polymer plastics and adsorbed particles.