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

NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: Highly publicized foodborne disease outbreaks linked to the consumption of meat and other food products have resulted in increased consumer concerns and interest in food safety. Although there have been major advances by the industry and research scientists to reduce the incidence and eliminate or control pathogens at all stages of the food chain, outbreaks continue to occur. The burden of foodborne illness in the United States is estimated at approximately 76 million illnesses, 325,000 hospitalizations, and 5,000 deaths each year. Salmonella and Escherichia coli O157:H7 are estimated to cause approximately 1.3 million and 62,000 cases of foodborne illness every year, respectively. Infections with Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes result in 556 and 499 deaths annually, respectively. The goal of this work is to contribute to the enhancement of the safety of food products. Results of studies will be useful to: the industry in efforts to control pathogens in meat and other food products; risk assessors as they attempt to improve microbial risk assessments; the government in its efforts to develop effective food safety policies and regulations; and health care providers in consumer education activities. <P>APPROACH: Studies will be designed to address the stated objectives and, thereby, generate information that will be useful to food safety risk assessors, policy makers and regulators, the food producing, processing and serving industries, public health authorities, and consumers in their efforts to improve the safety of our food supply. Procedures and methods to be used to conduct the experiments will depend on the objectives of each study, and will be selected from officially approved methodologies, the literature, previously used methods from our laboratory or alternatively, procedures or methods will be developed. Studies will be designed to: (1) examine animal production practices and/or interventions at the pre-slaughter stage to control or reduce the prevalence of pathogens (Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Salmonella) on resulting carcasses and other food products; (2) develop or improve on physical, chemical and biological decontamination treatments or processes (by using novel treatments or processes and/or treatments or processes in combination or sequence) to reduce contamination of carcasses or other foods during processing; (3) develop or improve on physical, chemical and biological decontamination treatments or processes (by using novel treatments or processes and/or treatments or processes in combination or sequence) to control post-processing contamination of ready-to-eat meat and poultry products with pathogens (Listeria monocytogenes); (4) determine the risk of E. coli O157:H7 associated with processing and preparation of non-intact (marinated, tenderized or restructured) meat products, and provide information for minimizing such risks using novel or alternative marination and processing technologies; (5) evaluate the potential for pathogens (E. coli O157:H7 and L. monocytogenes) to form biofilms on food-contact surfaces (in the processing, retail or home environment), the efficacy of sanitizers to control biofilm formation, and the potential for pathogen cells, surviving in biofilms after sanitation, to survive in cross-contaminated food products; (6) evaluate consumer practices that may lead to cross-contamination with pathogens in the home, and develop potential interventions to reduce or inactivate potential pathogen contamination before consumption; (7) determine sources/spread and persistence of pathogens (L. monocytogenes) in food processing and retail environments and use these data to develop mathematical transmission models; (8) develop mathematical models from data of survival/growth kinetics of L. monocytogenes on ready-to-eat products of different formulations and stored at different temperatures; and, (9) examine factors that may lead to the emergence, persistence and elimination of antimicrobial resistance in food processing and animal production environments. Data collected from the research studies will be disseminated to regulatory authorities, public health agencies, the meat industry, and consumers.