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The potential of olive powder to keep foods safe to eat is getting a fresh look from Albany chemist Mendel Friedman and colleagues at the University of Arizona-Tucson.
An olive processing co-product, olive powder was one of about two dozen plant extracts, spices, and herbs that the team evaluated for their potential to combat Escherichia coli O157:H7 and to retard formation of heterocyclic amines during cooking of hamburger patties.
E. coli O157:H7 is a leading cause of food sickness in the U.S. and is blamed for more than 73,000 cases of illness annually. In recent years, many E. coli outbreaks have been traced back to ground beef and have led to the introduction of stringent new food safety rules designed to reduce the occurrence of this microbe, and six of its relatives, in meats, poultry, and other foods.
The ability of olive extracts to kill foodborne pathogens has been reported in earlier studies conducted at Albany, Tucson, and elsewhere. However, the E. coli and amines study, reported in a 2012 issue of the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, may be the first to show olive powder’s performance in concurrently suppressing three targets of concern — two major amines and a pervasive E. coli.
FoodWorld 