PREDICTIVE MODELS FOR THERMAL INACTIVATION OF LISTERIA MONOCYTOGENES ON THE SURFACE OF HOT DOGS

The long-term goal of the proposed research is to develop realistic and accurate predictive models for the thermal inactivation of Listeria monocytogenes in processed ready-to-eat meats. The specific objectives are 1) to study and compare thermal inactivation models for L. monocytogenes grown under stress conditions in low and high fat hot dogs (10 to 30%), in conditions to simulate its presence in water and residual sanitizers, and in tryptic soy broth, 2) to compare surface thermal inactivation models over a range of post-processing temperatures relevant to industrial practices for L. monocytogenes in hot dogs made with and without combinations of sodium diacetate and potassium lactate as currently used in the industry, 3) determine thermal inactivation of L. monocytogenes on hot dogs surface-sprayed with different combinations of sodium diacetate and potassium lactate, and 4) to validate the new models against the experimental data for inactivation of L.
monocytogenes in hot dogs using the growth medium that represents high and low D-values and sprayed lactate/diacetate formulations