Research – Listeria Effect of Reduced Salt and Organinc Acids and Salt Derivatives

Abstract:  Reducing sodium in food could have an effect on food safety. The objective was to determine differences in growth of Listeria monocytogenes in meat and poultry systems with salt substitutes. For phase 1, fresh ground beef, pork, and turkey with NaCl, KCl, CaCl₂, MgCl₂, sea salt, or replacement salt added at 2.0% were inoculated with L. monocytogenes to determine growth/survival during 5 d at 4 °C to simulate a pre-blend process. L. monocytogenes populations significantly decreased (0.41 log CFU/g) during the storage time in beef, but no differences (P > 0.05) were observed over time in pork or turkey. Salt type did not affect (P > 0.05) L. monocytogenes populations during pre-blend storage. MgCl₂ and NaCl allowed significant growth of aerobic populations during storage. For phase 2, emulsified beef and pork products were processed with 2% NaCl, KCl, sea salt, or a NaCl/KCl blend and post-process surface-inoculated with L. monocytogenes to determine growth/survival at 4 °C for 28 d. Pork products showed significantly greater L. monocytogenes population growth at all sampling times (0, 7, 14, 21, and 28 d) than beef products, but salt type had no effect on L. monocytogenes populations with sampling times pooled for data analysis. Although salt types had no impact on L. monocytogenes populations in preblend and emulsified meat products, pork and turkey preblends and emulsified pork had greater L. monocytogenes populations compared with beef products. These studies demonstrate that sodium may not affect the safety of preblends and emulsified meat and poultry products.

Practical Application:  odium reduction in food is an important topic because of sodium’s unfavorable health effects. This research shows that reducing sodium in pre-blends and emulsified meat and poultry products would have no effect on Listeria monocytogenes populations, but replacement of NaCl with MgCl₂ may affect growth of aerobic populations.

Mary Ann Liebert

Abstract

This article reports on the antilisterial properties of selected organic acids and salt derivatives in order to suggest possible alternatives in food preservation and pathogen control in the poultry meat processing industry. The susceptibility of two Listeria monocytogenes isolates was assessed against five organic acids (lactic, acetic, malic, citric, and propionic) and two acid-salt derivatives (sorbic acid [potassium salt] and benzoic acid [sodium salt]) across a series of pH environments. Minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of the acids were tested against the two strains by means of an agar-dilution method. In general, strain CC60 was found to be more resistant than strain CC77 to both organic acids and salts. At pH values of 7 and above, high MIC levels (low susceptibility) were noted for potassium sorbate, sodium benzoate, and lactic acids, whereas susceptibility at lower pH increased reaching pH5 where the isolates were susceptible to all the organic acids tested. A small increase in pH notably reduced antimicrobial activity against the organisms. At pH 7, the isolates just about lost susceptibility to benzoic, lactic, malic, and sorbic acids. Although the activity of the majority of acids was linked to pH, some acids were not as closely related (e.g., potassium sorbate, sodium benzoate, and citric acid), and this suggests that the type of organic acids plays a role in inhibition. The relatively high MICs reported for compounds that are conventionally used as preservatives against Listeria spp. raise concern. The results furthermore suggest that the type of organic acid used to set pH, and not only pH alone, plays a role in determining inhibition. It was confirmed that a “one size fits all” approach to preservation is not always effective. Furthermore, the need for microbiological data to the subspecies level to inform the selection of preservatives was highlighted.