Microbiological Safety (microbiological + safety)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Effects of storage under a modified atmosphere on the microbiological and organoleptic qualities of ground beef prepared from pasteurized manufacturing beef

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY, Issue 3 2003
C. O. Gill
Summary A 40-kg lot of manufacturing beef, i.e. meat used for the production of ground beef products, was collected at a beef packing plant. The lot was divided into two batches. One batch was pasteurized by immersion in water at 85 °C for 60 s, the other batch was not pasteurized. Both batches were then ground. The ground meat was packed in overwrapped trays, which were master packaged under a modified atmosphere of 70% O2 : 30% CO2. The master packs were stored at 2 °C for up to 12 days. At the time of pack preparation and at 2-day intervals, a master pack containing pasteurized and another pack containing unpasteurized meat, were opened and retail packs from each master pack were displayed at 4 °C for 3 days. Samples for microbiological analysis were obtained at the times of opening master packs and at the end of display. Displayed meat was assessed daily for colour, discoloration and retail appearance, and for odour intensity and acceptability at the end of display. After either a period of storage or a period of storage and display, the numbers of bacteria recovered from pasteurized meat were less than the numbers recovered from unpasteurized meat. The colour of pasteurized meat was perceived as being paler than that of unpasteurized meat, but discoloration was similar or less, and retail appearance was similar or better for pasteurized than unpasteurized meat at all times. The odours of displayed, pasteurized meat were generally somewhat less intense and more acceptable than those of unpasteurized meat. The findings indicate that pasteurization of manufacturing beef to improve the microbiological safety of ground beef provides a product of acceptable appearance and enhanced stability during storage under a modified atmosphere and subsequent display in air. [source]


Temperature shock, injury and transient sensitivity to nisin in Gram negatives

JOURNAL OF APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 4 2001
I.S. Boziaris
Aims:,The effect of thermal stresses on survival, injury and nisin sensitivity was investigated in Salmonella Enteritidis PT4, PT7 and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Methods and Results:,Heating at 55°C, rapid chilling to 0·5°C or freezing at ,20°C produced transient sensitivity to nisin. Cells were only sensitive if nisin was present during stress. Resistance recovered rapidly afterwards, though some cells displayed residual injury. Injury was assessed by SDS sensitivity, hydrophobicity changes, lipopolysaccharide release and NPN uptake. LPS release and hydrophobicity were not always associated with transient nisin sensitivity. Uptake of NPN correlated better but persisted longer after treatment. Conclusions:,Thermal shocks produce transient injury to the outer membrane, allowing nisin access. After treatment, the permeability barrier is rapidly restored by a process apparently involving reorganization rather than biosynthetic repair. Significance and Impact of the Study:,Inclusion of nisin during food treatments that impose sub-lethal stress on Gram negatives could increase process lethality, enhancing microbiological safety and stability. [source]


LISTERIA MONOCYTOGENES AND ESCHERICHIA COLI O157:H7 INHIBITION IN VITRO BY LIPOSOME-ENCAPSULATED NISIN AND ETHYLENE DIAMINETETRAACETIC ACID

JOURNAL OF FOOD SAFETY, Issue 2 2008
T. MATTHEW TAYLOR
ABSTRACT Encapsulation technologies that effectively reduce antimicrobial interaction with food components or protect antimicrobial compounds from food processing measures have the potential to improve the microbiological safety of ready-to-eat foods. Recent application of liposomes for the preservation of cheese has spurred research into their utility in other food matrices. To ascertain the feasibility of encapsulated antimicrobial for the control of Listeria monocytogenes and Escherichia coli O157:H7 growth in a model system, nisin (5.0 and 10.0 µg/mL) and the chelator ethylene diaminetetraacetic acid were entrapped in phospholipid liposomes. While phosphatidylcholine (PC) liposomes did not produce significant inhibition of target pathogens, PC/phosphatidylglycerol 8/2 and 6/4 (mol%) produced significant inhibition of pathogens. Near-complete inhibition of E. coli O157:H7 with liposomal antimicrobials at concentrations below those reported necessary for unencapsulated antimicrobial and chelator suggests that liposomes may represent a powerful technology for the encapsulation of antimicrobials and the control of foodborne pathogens. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS The activity of many antimicrobials is abolished in many food products for a variety of reasons. Interference and cross-reactions of the antimicrobial and various food constituents, such as protein and fat, are difficult to overcome and often require large amounts of antimicrobial in order to gain significant reductions in the pathogen load in a product. Loss of solubility of some antimicrobials based on pH or ionic strength will negatively affect the antimicrobial potential of a compound like nisin. Liposome encapsulation technologies, such as that reported here, may allow for the maintenance of antimicrobial activity by protecting the antimicrobial against cross-reactions with food components. Additionally, the liposome core represents a microenvironment which can be manipulated by the manufacturer in order to preserve optimal antimicrobial solubility and stability conditions until the time of release. [source]


Sanitation Procedure Affects Biochemical and Nutritional Changes of Shredded Carrots

JOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE, Issue 2 2007
Saúl Ruiz-Cruz
ABSTRACT:, Fresh-cut vegetables are considered convenient but with less nutritional quality compared to raw natural produce. Carrots are highly appreciated because of their carotene and antioxidant nutrients, but processing requires an appropriate sanitation procedure that ensures microbiological safety to consumers. The effect of the sanitation processing on the nutritional composition of shredded carrots was studied. Treatments tested were tap water, 200 ppm sodium hypochlorite (Cl), 40 ppm peroxyacetic acid (PA), and 100, 250, and 500 ppm acidified sodium chlorite (ASC). Measured parameters were oxygen radical absorbing capacity (ORAC), total phenolics and carotenoids, sugars, and phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL) and peroxidase (POD) activity. Shredded carrots sanitized with ASC retained higher levels of sugars, carotene, and antioxidant capacity. ASC also delayed the PAL and POD activity. These results show the importance of evaluating nutritional parameters during processing stages, since minimal processing does not necessarily imply loss of nutritional value. Furthermore, the availability of fresh-cut produce may increase the intake of nutrients, with a positive effect on health. [source]


Microbiological Benefits of Removing Foam Formed After UV-Enhanced Ozonation of Poultry-Processing Chiller Water for Recycling

JOURNAL OF FOOD SCIENCE, Issue 3 2002
M.E. Diaz
ABSTRACT: Prior experiments using 250 mL samples of unscreened poultry overflow chiller water evaluated the beneficial bactericidal and oxidative effects of 4 different treatments (namely, O2/O3,O2/UV, O2/O3/UV, and O2 as the control) for improving microbiological safety, turbidity, and water-use efficiency allowing its reconditioning for reuse. When excluding foam as in this present study, synergistic reductions > 1.5 log CFU/mL for aerobic plate counts (APC) were additionally achieved after 4 min for all O3/UV treatment combinations as compared to serially applied treatments of O3 and UV acting separately. With foam present, 16-min O3/UV treatments were required to achieve similar results. We now report these additional benefits achieved by removing the foam formed by the advanced oxidation process of ultraviolet-photon enhanced ozonation. Furthermore, foam microbial and general physical content were analyzed to determine suitability as an additive in rendering-type processes. Treatment of the wastewater resulted in total plate counts between 2 to 4 Log CFU/mL in the foam after 8 min. Fat and protein constituted 89% of the solids collected (384 mg/L or 14% of the foam) with trace amounts of metal elements (for example, Ca, Na, K, Fe, Cu) present. Irradiating had negligible effect on foam characteristics yet decreased the amount of solids collected. [source]