An official website of the United States government.
Food safety is one of the critical concerns of consumers and food companies alike. Traditionally, thermal treatments have been used to inactivate dangerous pathogens in foods. <P>
Recent years have been marked by an increased interest in non-thermally treated foods, which led to increased efforts by researchers and the industry towards developing non-heat based antimicrobial methods able to produce foods that are safe, but also retain their freshness and nutritional properties. <P>
The main objective of this work is to develop non-heat based processing methods that are effectively inactivating food pathogens in foods of defined composition and physical properties.
NON-TECHNICAL SUMMARY: Food borne diseases are a serious problem in the US and worldwide. According to the CDC, in the United States alone, it was estimated that foodborne pathogens are responsible for about 76 million illnesses, 325,000 hospitalizations and about 5,000 deaths per year. Since contamination with pathogens cannot be totally prevented through good manufacturing practices, food processors need to use techniques able to destroy the harmful microflora. Traditionally, thermal treatments have been used in food manufacturing processes for killing pathogenic and spoilage microorganisms. While effective against microflora, such treatments can also result in loss of sensory and nutritional quality of foods. Several new technologies have been proposed in recent years as feasible alternatives to thermal treatment, some of them having the potential to address the above-mentioned issues, including post-process decontamination. The main objective of this work is to develop non-heat based processing methods that are effectively inactivating food pathogens in foods of defined composition and physical properties. The information generated as a result of this work will be the foundation for the commercial implementation of these technologies, to the benefit of the consumers and food industry.
<P>
APPROACH: Food samples of defined geometries and physical properties will be inoculated with the relevant microbial pathogens or their surrogates, at known inoculums concentration. The inoculated samples will be then exposed to increasing doses of the specific antimicrobial treatment, the survivors will be quantified and inactivation curves will be built. In addition, the effect of the treated food properties and the mode of exposure of the effectiveness of the treatment will be evaluated, in order to identify the treatment conditions conducive of maximum inactivation.