German company Food Freshly has begun offering processors a bespoke formula wash for fresh foodstuffs that it claims will keep them germ free and extend their shelf life.
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Category Archives: Research
Bespoke Vegetable Wash – Increased Shelf Life
Posted in Bacteria, Food Safety, Microbiology, Research, Shelf Life
Tagged food, food production, foodstuffs, german company
Norovirus Research
Abstract:
Human Noroviruses (NoVs) cause an estimated 58% of foodborne illnesses in the United States annually. The majority of these outbreaks are due to contamination by food handlers. The objective of this study was to quantify the transfer rate and degree of contamination that occurs on small fruits (blueberries, grapes, and raspberries) and food contact surfaces (stainless steel) when manipulated with NoV-contaminated hands. Human NoVs (genogroups I and II [GI and GII]) and murine norovirus (MNV-1) were inoculated individually or as a three-virus cocktail onto donor surfaces (gloved fingertips or stainless steel) and either immediately interfaced with one or more recipient surfaces (fruit, gloves, or stainless steel) or allowed to dry before contact. Viruses on recipient surfaces were quantified by real-time quantitative reverse transcriptase PCR. Transfer rates were 58 to 60% for GII NoV from fingertips to stainless steel, blueberries, and grapes and 4% for raspberries under wet conditions. Dry transfer occurred at a much lower rate (<1%) for all recipient surfaces. Transfer rates ranged from 20 to 70% from fingertips to stainless steel or fruits for the GI, GII, and MNV-1 virus cocktail under wet conditions and from 4 to 12% for all viruses under dry transfer conditions. Fomite transfer (from stainless steel to fingertip and then to fruit) was lower for all viruses, ranging from 1 to 50% for wet transfer and 2 to 11% for dry transfer. Viruses transferred at higher rates under wet conditions than under dry conditions. The inoculum matrix affected the rate of virus transfer, but the majority of experiments resulted in no difference in the transfer rates for the three viruses. While transfer rates were often low, the amount of virus transferred to recipient surfaces often exceeded 4- or 5-log genomic copy numbers, indicating a potential food safety hazard. Quantitative data such as these are needed to model scenarios of produce contamination by food handling and devise appropriate interventions to manage risk.
Thermo Scientific – Applied Food Testing Information Including Microbiology
Thermo Fisher Scientific provides the latest information on food quality and safety applications, case studies or validated methods.
Our food quality and safety technical library is your resource for application expertise as well as news regarding events, regulations or public safety concerns.
Posted in Research
Tagged public safety concerns, research, thermo fisher scientific
CDC 2011 Foodborne Disease Figures
The Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network (FoodNet) conducts active population-based surveillance in ten areas (Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland, Minnesota, New Mexico, Oregon, Tennessee, and selected counties in California, Colorado, and New York) for laboratory-confirmed cases of infection caused by Campylobacter, Cryptosporidium, Cyclospora, Listeria, Salmonella, Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC, including STEC O157 and STEC non-O157), Shigella, Vibrio, and Yersinia.
FoodNet also conducts surveillance for postdiarrheal hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a complication of STEC infection characterized by renal failure and microangiopathic hemolytic anemia, through a network of pediatric nephrologists and infection-control practitioners. Hospital discharge data are reviewed to validate HUS diagnoses and verify the presence of diarrhea in the 21 days before HUS onset. This report contains preliminary postdiarrheal HUS data for 2010, rather than for 2011, because additional time is needed to review hospital records.
Research Packaging Inhibition of Listeria monocytogenes
A new study conducted by the Department of Food Science and Technology at the University of Georgiahas found that antimicrobial packaging can make food safer. Scientists looked at the effectiveness of antimicrobial packaging structures in ready-to-eat (RTE) meat products.
They inoculated cooked ham with Listeria monocytogenes, then packaged it in antimicrobial packaging. The samples were stored at 4 degrees, 10 degrees, and 22 degrees Centigrade, then tested for aerobic bacteria (bacteria that need oxygen to live and reproduce), Entereobacteriaceae, and Listeria monocytogenes two times over four weeks. They found that packaging with an oxygen scavenger or a carbon dioxide generator was effective at reducing bacterial growth, and that packaging with an allyl isothiocyanate (AIT) generator was less effective.
Posted in Bacteria, Food Safety, Food Testing, Listeria, Listeria monocytogenes, Microbiology, Research
Tagged science
Research – Listeria Control on Smoked Salmon by X – Ray
Abstract
In this study, smoked salmon fillets were artificially inoculated with L. monocytogenes (3.7±0.2 log CFU/g) and treated with X-ray irradiation generated by a RS 2400 X-ray machine (Rad Source Technologies Inc.) using doses of 0.0, 0.1, 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 kGy. Unirradiated and irradiated samples were then stored at 5°C for 35 days and tested for L. monocytogenes count after 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, and 35 days. Also, uninoculated-untreated and uninoculated-treated samples with the lowest and highest X-ray doses (0.1 and 2.0 kGy) were stored at 5°C and examined for psychrotrophs and mesophiles counts after 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, and 35 days. The initial L. monocytogenes population (3.7 log CFU/g) was significantly (p<0.05) reduced to an undetectable level (< 1.0 log CFU/g) by treatment with 1.0 kGy X-ray. Treatment with 0.1 kGy X-ray significantly reduced the initial psychrotrophs and mesophiles counts from 5.3 and 3.0 to 3.3 and 2.3, respectively. However, L. monocytogenes, psychrotrophs and mesophiles counts were gradually increased during storage. Treatment with 2.0 kGy X-ray kept the L. monocytogenes population under detectable level until 35 days. Treatment with 2.0 kGy X-ray kept the mesophiles and psychrotrophs counts within the acceptable level until 35 days. These results revealed that treatment with X-ray irradiation can significantly reduce the risk of Listeriosis and extend the shelf life of smoked salmon during storage at 5°C.
Posted in Bacteria, Eurofins Laboratories, Food Safety, Listeria, Listeria monocytogenes, Microbiology, Pathogen, Research
Tagged health, technology, travel
Research Hepatitis E – Pork Food Chain UK
Abstract
We investigated contamination by hepatitis E virus (HEV) in the pork production chain in the United Kingdom. We detected HEV in pig liver samples in a slaughterhouse, in surface samples from a processing plant, and in pork sausages and surface samples at point of sale. Our findings provide evidence for possible foodborne transmission of HEV during pork production.
Posted in Food Safety, Food Virus, Hepatitis E, Pathogen, Research, Virus
Tagged foodborne transmission, liver samples, pig liver, pork sausages
Could Food Become a Vehicle for a Tropical Disease?
Food Safety News (Full Article)
It’s highly unlikely, but if high in an African mango tree a bat dropped its guano on fruit and it was harvested and went unwashed on a 747 to America, you could end up with a deadly tropical foodborne illness characterized by bleeding through the eye socket.
These are the possibilities that are considered at the International Association for Food Protection, which is meeting this week at the Rhode Island State Convention Center. It’s where food professionals come to learn about the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) Global Foodborne Infections Network, or PulseNet International, which keeps track of threats most of us don’t even want to think about.
Posted in Food Poisoning, Food Safety, Foodborne Illness, Pathogen, Research
Dairy Researchers Identify Bacterial Spoilers in Milk
Milk undergoes heat treatment — pasteurization — to kill off microbes that can cause food spoilage and disease, but certain bacterial strains can survive this heat shock as spores and cause milk to curdle in storage.
Researchers in the Milk Quality Improvement Program at Cornell’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences have identified the predominant spore-forming bacteria in milk and their unique enzyme activity, knowledge that can now be used to protect the quality and shelf life of dairy products.
“We studied 1,288 bacterial isolates in raw milk, pasteurized milk and the dairy farm environment; however, only a handful of strains accounted for 80 percent of the spore-formers present,” said Wiedmann. “They grow well in milk — and possibly other foods — at temperatures as low as 43 F, and we can identify Paenibacillus because of their uniquely high galactosidase enzyme activity at 32 C.”
Research Copper Kills Salmonella
Preparing food on copper surfaces may significantly reduce the risk of spreading foodborne pathogens, according to a study by researchers at the University of Arizona.
The study, funded in part by the International Copper Association and published in the May issue of Food Microbiology, compared the ability of various Salmonella strains to survive on both copper and stainless steel surfaces. It comes on the heels of research by co-author Christopher Rensing demonstrating the antimicrobial properties of copper.
Posted in Research, Salmonella
Tagged food safety news, salmonella strains, science, stainless steel surfaces
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