Preserving microbiological safety of human foods through innovative development and validation of chemical and biological food safety interventions

Quantify and characterize the antimicrobial activity capabilities of chemical and biological antimicrobials applied to preserve microbiological safety of human foods.Identify and quantify antimicrobial activity of food sanitizing compounds and antimicrobial interventions using in vitro snapshot and kinetic assays.Characterize the antimicrobial mechanism(s) of chemical and/or biological preservatives in vitro and in food systems.Integrate the application of physical processing technologies (e.g., heating, high pressure processing) and chemical or biological preservatives to develop and validate multi-hurdle food safety approaches for food safety protection.Develop and characterize novel systems for delivery and incorporation of chemical and biological preservatives in human foods to preserve food safety.Produce micro- and nano-scale antimicrobials encapsulation technologies/interventions for delivery of antimicrobials on to surfaces of fruit, vegetable, and processed meat food products.Conduct physico-chemical analyses of antimicrobial-encapsulating systems to determine storage and process stability of antimicrobial delivery technologies; identify strategic collaborators to allow study completion.Identify intelligent pairings of antimicrobials for delivery into foods based on compatibility of antimicrobial chemistries and mechanisms of activity.Systematically investigate the utility of innovative antimicrobial technologies in decontaminating foods from bacterial foodborne pathogens.Collaboratively identify food commodity classes (e.g., fresh or processed meat/poultry, pasteurized dairy, fresh produce) with high relevance for encapsulated antimicrobials.Apply antimicrobial systems in foodstuffs following, prior to, alongside, of after pathogen inoculation to model the antimicrobial activity against a targeted bacterial pathogen of relevance to the U.S. foods industry under differing scenarios of food contamination during commercial food manufacture.Apply antimicrobial technologies for the disinfection of food contact surfaces/materials, evaluating efficacy at surface decontamination and pathogen transfer potential.Quantify enhancement(s) in observed antimicrobial activity of encapsulated antimicrobial preservatives versus non-encapsulated antimicrobial compounds.Complete research identifying factors/properties of foods, and food manufacturing, that determine and potentially validate the utility of antimicrobials to provide holistic understanding of food safety protection.As appropriate, conduct sensory research (using collaborating experts) to identify likely drivers/inhibitors of consumer acceptance of antimicrobial-treated food products.Using collaborating experts, identify and quantify physico-chemical changes in foods following nano-encapsulated antimicrobials to determine limits to product keeping quality and palatability.Complete research determining the opportunities to conserve natural/renewable resources (e.g., water) during food processing by use of antimicrobial technologies to improve efficiency of food processing.