Source: UNIV OF MASSACHUSETTS submitted to
NOVEL APPROACHES TO FOOD SAFETY IN AGRICULTURE
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
TERMINATED
Funding Source
HATCH
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1007809
Grant No.
(N/A)
Project No.
MAS00493
Proposal No.
(N/A)
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Program Code
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Oct 1, 2015
Project End Date
Sep 30, 2020
Grant Year
(N/A)
Project Director
McLandsborough, LY, A.
Recipient Organization
UNIV OF MASSACHUSETTS
(N/A)
AMHERST,MA 01003
Performing Department
Food Science
Non Technical Summary
The safety of the food supply is a continuing issue for agriculture, with an estimated 81 million instances of food borne illnesses in the USA annually, with an estimated cost of $152 billion dollars per year to the US economy. The Center for Disease Control and prevention estimates that 46% of these illnesses were due to produce - thus food safety is very much an agricultural issue. This multi-researcher project will focus on four critical aspects of food safety: understanding the scope of food safety problems, characterizing the scientific basis of pathogenic organisms' survival, development of methodology for detection, and translating knowledge through food safety extension research and activates. Together these activities will contribute to the long term goal of reducing the reducing the overall risk of foodborne illness.
Animal Health Component
0%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
67%
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
33%
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
71250101100100%
Knowledge Area
712 - Protect Food from Contamination by Pathogenic Microorganisms, Parasites, and Naturally Occurring Toxins;

Subject Of Investigation
5010 - Food;

Field Of Science
1100 - Bacteriology;
Goals / Objectives
The long term goal of reducing the reducing the overall risk of foodborne illnessAim 1 Determine the levels and distribution of enterotoxigenic Clostridium perfringens and Bacillus cereus spores in retail spices.Aim 2. Characterize biofilm formation in food pathogens and surrogates.Aim 3. Develop rapid screening assays for bacterial contamination of produce.Aim 4 Increase food safety knowledge of producers, conduct applied research relevant to food safety and design supports for adopting practices that will reduce the overall risk of foodborne illness and increase access to local and national wholesale markets.
Project Methods
Aim 1 Determine the levels and distribution of enterotoxigenic Clostridium perfringens and Bacillus cereus spores in retail spices.The objective of this aim is to determine the levels and distribution of enterotoxigenic Clostridium perfringens and Bacillus cereus spores in retail spices. Levels of aerobic, spore-forming bacteria up to 106 to 108 CFU/gm have been reported in various spices. Of particular concern are spore-forming foodborne pathogens such as Bacillus cereus and Clostridium perfringens. Early surveys of the incidence of C. perfringens and B. cereus spores in spices typically reported the distribution and levels of these organisms but not their toxin-producing abilities.Experimental Design Retail spice samples will be obtained from vendors in western New England and, with assistance of colleagues, from selected geographical areas of the U.S. Samples will be assessed for the levels of aerobic and anaerobic spores and the specific presence of B. cereus and C. perfringens spores. To determine overall spore levels, samples will be stomached, heated at 75°C for 15 min, plated on non-selective media, and then incubated aerobically or anaerobically for 24 hr at 32°C. For specific enumeration of each species, a MPN procedure will be used using tryptic soy broth with polymyxin or iron milk medium for B. cereus and C. perfringens respectively. Positive tubes will be streaked onto selective/differential agars, a chromogenic agar for B. cereus and TSC agar for C. perfringens with aerobic or anaerobic incubation at 32C or 37C. The presence enterotoxin genes in isolates will be determined using the PCR with primers known to recognize the enterotoxin genes in question. Challenge studies will be performed in model foods (below) using spices identified to contain each species. Separately, spores of enterotoxigenic isolates of each species will be inoculated into rice and cooked hamburger, heated under standard cooking conditions, and held at 7°C, 12°C and 20°C. Similar temperature conditions will be employed using precooked rice and hamburger. This will evaluate the potential for spores in spices to germinate and grow in model foods under proper and abusive temperaturesAim 2. Characterize biofilm formation in food pathogens and surrogatesThe objective of this aim is to characterize the genetic nature of L. monocytogenes biofilm formation and evaluate the potential for L. innocua to be used as a surrogate. Bacterial growth in biofilms continues to be an issue in the food processing environment, as seen by the recent Blue Bell Listeria monocytogenes outbreak which identified the presence of this pathogen in the food processing environment. Fundamental knowledge of the mechanisms behind biofilm formation of this foodborne pathogen is important to contribute to develop valid scientific approaches to combat this human pathogen in foods. In order to validate antimicrobial treatments against L. monocytogenes on actual equipment, it would be useful to identify a non-pathogenic surrogate organism that can used outside a BSL2 laboratory. Listeria innocua (L. innocua) has been used as a surrogate for L. monocytogenes under many different processing conditions, however to date, no studies have used L. innocua as a surrogate for L. monocytogenes biofilm formation.Experimental design. Research will continue to characterize a Himar1 mariner transposon mutant library which identified 24 distinct loci, 18 of which have not been characterized in depth \. Allelic exchange will be used to generate "clean" mutants \and biofilms will be characterized either using microtiter plates \, colony biofilms \ or under flow conditions in biofilm reactors. Strains of L. innocua biofilm formation will be characterized alongside a cocktail of L. monocytogenes strains to identify and validate appropriate L. innocua strains which could be used a surrogates for L. monocytogenes cleaning and sanitation studies.Aim 3 Develop rapid screening assays for bacteria contamination of produce.The objective of this am is to enable early detection methods by rapidly and efficiently separating and concentrating bacteria from agricultural matrices. We propose a rapid bacterial separation method using a combination of enzymatic matrix digestion and phage-based separation which will allow the use of rapid detection methods on agricultural matrices.Experimental design This objective has been divided into two sub-objectives in order to efficiently approach the complex problems.Enzymatic digestion of food and agricultural products for bacterial release and separation: We will build on the preliminary data obtained demonstrating a significant improvement in bacterial separation following enzymatic digestion. We will determine the enzyme concentrations and incubation conditions in order to maximize the digestion of a food matrix (mung bean sprouts). The breakdown of the food components will allow the release of surface-adhered bacteria into an aqueous phase allowing a more efficient separation. We will use this method to separate inoculated E. coli from mung bean sprouts. We determine the loss of mass from the plant material following digestion and screen enzymes/conditions to ensure bacterial viability is not compromised. The separation efficiency will be quantified for increasing bacterial concentrations by standard plating methods.Phage enabled separation of E. coli from liquefied samples: We plan to build off our prior success with the surface modification of T7 to express biotin on the major capsid protein. The surface modified phages will be conjugated to streptavidin-coated magnetic particles (1µm) to allow for bacterial separation. We will take advantage of the high affinity between bacteria and their respective phages for the efficient separation of bacteria form a liquid sample (agricultural water). Following separation and bacterial lysis, qPCR will be conducted for the quantification of capture efficiency. Aim 4. Increase food safety knowledge of producers, conduct applied research relevant to food safety and design supports for adopting practices that will reduce the overall risk of foodborne illness and increase access to local and national wholesale markets. The demand for improved food safety practices and certifications have increased significantly in recent years, yet there is limited extension guidance provided for stakeholders to provide the technical support for scale appropriate implementation of food safety practices. For example, the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) final rule will start implementation by the end 2015. While the interest in FSMA is intended to be more preventative than reactionary towards food safety incidents, the transition for all processors to becoming compliant will be a challenge. The objective of this aim is to identify strategies that will increase food safety knowledge of growers, provide relevant technical support through applied research to help increase the adoption of food safety practices to reduce foodborne illness.Research Design. Applied research projects will focus on the relevant needs of stakeholders in support of food safety. Work will be conducted using traditional analytical approaches and will be conducted in triplicate trials for statistical analysis. Extension: All extension activities will be closely monitored to measure outputs and impacts of practice. The number of publications (including fact sheets, videos, presentations and/or guidance documents) and the number of stakeholder access will be traced through online web management tools such as Google Analytics. All short term knowledge impacts and where appropriate, adoption of practice or indicators of change, will be evaluated using traditional assessment techniques such as pre & post surveys, interviews and verbal reports.

Progress 10/01/15 to 09/30/20

Outputs
Target Audience:The food safety program is focused on conducting fundamental and applied research to provide technical support and educational materials that serve the food industry. Our target audience has included academic and industrial researchers, public health authorities, and a focus on small and medium-scale producers and processors within the Northeast, and address issues that are of national concern. Changes/Problems:Goals2 and 3 were.associated with faculty who have left UMass Amherst (Labbe and Nugen) What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?PI-Kinchla invested in gaining the regulatory compliant credentials to offer the Preventive Controls Qualified Individual Training for processors within the northeast. She has been working with extension and regulatory partners (i.e. MA Dept. of Health & MA Dept of Ag) to ensure that there is sufficient training and technical support is available to satisfy the need for producers and processors. As a result, she has personally completed the Seafood HACCP training hosted by UMaine Extension. In addition, she had 1 student that was trained with a focus in food safety that has transitioned into the food industry. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results have been disseminated through peer-reviewed publications, presentations at scientific meetings, training courses, and consultations with constituents. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? AIM 2: Curcumin is a highly effectiveantimicrobial when photoactivated, however, it is highly unstable in aqueous solutions. The McLandsborough lab has developed a micellular encapsulation tostabilizeand deliver the antimicrobial activity of curcumin by reducing crystallization in aqueous solutions. Thus developinga delivery system to implement the practical use of photoactivated antimicrobials. AIM 4 Increase food safety knowledge of producers, conduct applied research relevant to food safety, and design supports for adopting practices that will reduce the overall risk of foodborne illness and increase access to local and national wholesale markets. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the FY 19/20 year has presented new challenges to the Food Science Extension program that has forced us into new approaches to managing our program. Now more than ever we have been presented with a heightened awareness and concern for food safety. Key successes over the 19/20 year include the content build-out of an open-access training program targeted to small emerging food businesses, providing technical support to MDAR that enables support and assessments of new value-added markets, increasing awareness and knowledge about food safety management systems to small and medium processors affected by FSMA and pivoting new program content adapted to virtual learning.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Lane, K., McLandsborough, L.A., Autio, W.A., and Kinchla, A.J. Detection of organic matter on postharvest produce contact surfaces using an ATP monitoring device. J Food Prot (2020) 83 (10): 18291837.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Accepted Year Published: 2020 Citation: Richard, N., Pivarnik, L., Von Achen, C., Kinchla, A.J. Knowledge, attitudes, and implementation of food safety practices among small food businesses operating at shared-use kitchens. Food Protection Trends. Accepted, Ms. No. FPT-20-018.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Richard, N.; Von Achen,C. ; Pivarnik, L.; Kinchla, A.J. Integrating a Food Safety Culture From Concept to Commercialization for Small and Emerging Food Businesses. Institute of Food Technologists, Annual Meeting - SHIFT20. Published Jul 03, 2020. https://shift20.iftevent.org/videos/26684_55235_21479_zoom_1
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Richard, N.; Von Achen,C. ; Pivarnik, L.; Kinchla, A.J. Building and Launching a Food Safety Management Training for Small and Emerging Food Businesses  Integrating a Food Safety Culture from Concept to Commercialization. Published. Jul 03, 2020.https://shift20.iftevent.org/videos/26684_55235_21479_zoom_1
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Von Achen,C. ; Richard, N.; Pivarnik, L.; Kinchla, A.J. Building and Launching a Food Safety Management Training for Small and Emerging Food Businesses: Integrating a Food Safety Culture from Concept to Commercialization. NIFA FSOP. PI Virtual Meeting, August, 2020.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Kinchla, A.J. Risk assessment on DIY washing. machines for post harvest leafy green drying. Northeast Center to Advance Food Safety, Annual. Philadelphia, PA. February, 2020
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Kinchla, A.J. An Interactive Demonstration on the Use of pH and Water Activity Meters for Establishing Food Safety Control. Yankee Conference, Plymouth, MA. September 2019. (Invited).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: RYU, S. R. Ramirez, P. Chuesiang, L. McLandsborough, D. J. McClements, and M. G. Corradini. Bridging the gap between ROS and microorganisms: Use of micellar encapsulation to enhance photosensitizers antimicrobial activity and stability. SHIFT20, IFT National Meeting, Online


Progress 10/01/18 to 09/30/19

Outputs
Target Audience:The food safety program is focused on conducting fundamental and applied research to provide technical support and educational materials that serve the food industry. Our target audience has included academic and industrial researchers, public health authorities and a focus on small and medium scale producers and processors within the Northeast, and address issues that are of national concern. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?PI-Kinchla invested in gaining the regulatory compliant credentials to offer the Preventive Controls Qualified Individual Training for processors within the northeast. She has been working with extension and regulatory partners (i.e. MA Dept. of Health & MA Dept of Ag) to ensure that there is sufficient training and technical support is available to satisfy the need for producers and processors. As a result, she has lead and/or contributed to 5 Preventive Control programs during 2018-2019. In addition she has secured funding in collaboration with URI to develop a food safety curriculum targeted to small and emerging food businesses. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results have been disseminated through peer-reviewed publications, presentations at scientific meetings, training courses, and consulations with constituents. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Goals 1 and 4 continue to be worked on. Goals 2 and 3 were associated with faculty who have left UMass Amherst (Labbe and Nugen)

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? AIM 2: Determined that the oil and surfactant composition of antimicrobials for the destruction of food pathogens can influence the level of antimicrobial delivery AIM 4 Increase food safety knowledge of producers, conduct applied research relevant to food safety and design supports for adopting practices that will reduce the overall risk of foodborne illness and increase access to local and national wholesale markets. Key extension programming this year included: Preventive Controls, Acidified Canning programming and Product Development programs. The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act has implemented a variety of required food safety training for processors. ?

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Ryu, V., M. Corradini, D. J. McClements, L. McLandsborough. 2019. Impact of ripening inhibitors on molecular transport of antimicrobial components form essential oil nanoemulsions. J. Coll. Int. Sci. 556:568-576
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Berus, N., J. Feirtag, M. G. Corradini, L. A. MCLANDSBOROUGH. A Study to Evaluate the Influence of Packaging Materials on Broccoli Quality during Transport. International Association of Food Protection 2019 National Meeting, Louisville, KY T3-02
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Ghostaw, T., Corradini, M.G., Autio, W. Kinchla, A.J. Impact of various postharvest wash water conditions on the performance of peracetic acid against Escherichia coli O157:H7 over time. Food Control. September, 2019.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Ghostlaw, T., Kinchla, A.J. Impact of Various Post-harvest Wash Water Conditions on the Performance of Peracetic Acid over Time. International Association of Food Protection 2019 Annual Meeting, Louisville, KY. July, 2019.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2019 Citation: Lane, K.M., Kinchla, A.J., The Efficacy of ATP Monitoring Systems at Measuring Organic Load on Postharvest Surfaces. Northeast Center to Advance Food Safety Annual Meeting, Albany, NY. February, 2019.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2019 Citation: Ghostlaw, T., Chang, A. Martinez-Ramos, P., Kinchla, A.J. Comparison of Commercial Sanitizer Monitoring Strips. Northeast Center to Advance Food Safety Annual Meeting, Albany, NY. February, 2019.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2019 Citation: Claudino, R., Robeson, J., Kinchla, A.J. Production of Acidified Canned Foods Using Locally Grown Produce. Northeast Center to Advance Food Safety Annual Meeting, Albany, NY. February, 2019


Progress 10/01/17 to 09/30/18

Outputs
Target Audience:The food safety program is focused on conducting fundamental and applied research to provide technical support and educational materials that serve the food industry. Our target audience has included academic and industrial researchers, public health authorities and a focus on small and medium scale producers and processors within the Northeast, and address issues that are of national concern. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Students are provided training and professional developmment opportunities in presenting research findings at regional and national scientific meeting, such as the New England Fruit and Vegetable and Berry Conference, Internaitonal Association of Food Protection national meeting, and the Institute of Food Technologists national meeting. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The results have been disseminated through scientific publications, presentations at scientific meetings, short courses, and a variety of extension activities (twilight programing, Preventive Control Programs, Better Process Control School) What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We will continue to increase the food safety knowledge of producers through workshops, research and desemination of products. The use of antimicrobials to prevent human pathogens in the food processing envionment will focus on the development of delivery systems to destroy bacteria in dry food processing areas.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Aim 2. Characerize biofilm formation in food pathogens and surrogates. We have continued to study natural antimicrobial systems to destroy biofilms. We have found that delivery systems can greatly vary the effectiveness of antimicrobial formulations, and optimization of essential oil delivery systems is needed for each system. Aim 4 Increase food safety knowledge of producers, conduct applied research relevant to food safety and design supports for adopting practices that will reduce the overall risk of foodborne illness and increase access to local and national wholesale markets. Key extension programming this year included: BPCS, Preventive Controls, and Product Development programs. The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act has implemented a variety of required food safety training for processors.PI-Kinchla invested in gaining the regulatory compliant credentials to offer the Preventive Controls Qualified Individual Training for processors within the northeast. She has been working with extension and regulatory partners (i.e. MA Dept. of Health & MA Dept of Ag) to ensure that there is sufficient training and technical support is available to satisfy the need for producers and processors. As a result, she has lead and/or contributed to 5 Preventive Control programs during 2017-2018.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Ghostlaw, T., Martinez Ramos, P., and Kinchla A.J. Artificial Organic Load for Produce Safety Research: The Need for Standardized Method. J Nutr Food Sci 2018, Vol 8(3): 703
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Yang, T. Doherty, J. Zhao, B. Kinchla, A.J., Clark, J., He, L. Effectiveness of commercial and homemade washing agents in removing pesticide residues on and in apples. J Agric Food Chem. 2017 Nov 8;65(44):9744-9752
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Ryu V, McClements DJ, Corradini MG, McLandsborough L. 2018. Effect of ripening inhibitor typeon formation, stability, and antimicrobial activity of thyme oil nanoemulsion. Food Chemistry245:104-111
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Ryu, V, D. J. McClements, M. G. Corradini, J. S. Yang and L. McLandsborough, 2018. Naturalantimicrobial delivery systems: formation, antimicrobial activity, and mechanism of action of quillaja saponin-stablilized carvacrol nanoemulsions. Food Hydrocolloids. 82:442-450.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: 2018 KoSFoST International Symposium and Annual Meeting, Busan, South Korea. 6/27/2018 MCLANDSBOROUGH, L. Biofilm formation and removal: implications for food safety. 2018 KoSFoST International Symposium and Annual Meeting.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: McLandsborough, Effect of Packaging Type on Temperature and Relative Humidity During Harvest, Processing, and Transport of Broccoli.2018 IFT National Meeting. Chicago IL P05-075
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Kinchla, A.J. Special Food Processing Requirements. MA Environmental Health Association Annual Meeting, Wrentham, MA, May 16, 2018.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Kinchla, A.J. Cleaning Brushes and other Nasty Wash Line Parts. New England Fruit Vegetable and Berry Conference. Manchester, NH, Dec. 2017.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Martines-Ramos, P., Autio, W., Kinchla, A. Assessment of preparation methods to create a postharvest wash water model for food safety validation. Poster Presentation. New England Fruit, Berry and Vegetable Conference, December 2017, Manchester, NH.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Jennifer Robeson, Claudino, Ryan, Kinchla, A.J. Product Development Blueberry Jam, New England Vegetable and Fruit Conference, Manchester, New Hampshire, December 12-14, 2017
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Ghostlaw, T., Chang, A., Martinez-Ramos, P, Kinchla, A.J. Comparison of Commercial Sanitizer Monitoring Strips. New England Vegetable, Fruit and Berry Conference, Manchester, NH, Dec. 2017.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Foods for Health, Bangkok, Thailand. 1/10/2018 MCLANDSBOROUGH, L. Antimicrobial Delivery Systems for foods. Foods for Health Conference.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Von Achen, C., Kinchla, A.J., 2018. FSMA Preventive Control Rule and Farm Operations, Emerging Opportunities in Value-Added Agriculture. UMass Extension Vegetable Notes newsletter. Vegetable Notes. Vol 90:7.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Scott, J, Kinchla, A., Sharma, M, Borger, A., Leighton, S., Zink, D. Careers in Food Safety Roundtable Panel. IAFP, Salt Lake City. July 2018.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Kinchla, A.J. Food Safety Considerations from Concept to Commercialization: An Extension Training Program Targeted toward Food Entrepreneurs. International Association of Food Protection, Salt Lake City, Utah, July 10, 2018
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Martinez-Ramos, P., Autio, W. and Kinchla, A.J. Assessment of Preparation Methods to Create a Postharvest Wash Water Model for Food Safety Validation. International Association of Food Protection, Salt Lake City, Utah, July 9, 2018.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Ghostlaw, T., Martens, F., Autio, W., Corradini, M. Kinchla, A.J., International Association of Food Protection, Salt Lake City, Utah, July 9, 2018


Progress 10/01/16 to 09/30/17

Outputs
Target Audience:The food safety program has a strong focus on conducting applied research to provide technical support and educational materials that serve the food industry. Our target audience has included academic and industrial researchers, public health authorities and a focus on small and medium scale producers and processors within the Northeast, and address issues that are of national concern Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?· 4H Summer of Science: Program lead for a STEM event in support of 4H. Program resulted in 15 4H participants and 12 UMass students in a "farm to fork" food science program (contact 90 hours). · Key extension programming this year included: BPCS, Preventive Controls, and Product Development programs. The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act has implemented a variety of required food safety training for processors. PI-Kinchla invested in gaining the regulatory compliant credentials to offer the Preventive Controls Qualified Individual Training for processors within the northeast. She has been working with extension and regulatory partners (i.e. MA Dept. of Health & MA Dept of Ag) to ensure that there is sufficient training to satisfy the need for producers and processors. As a result, she has lead and/or contributed to 6 Preventive Control programs during 2016-2017. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results have been desseminated thorugh publications, research presentations at meetings and extension activities What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Research will continue under each of the project aims.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Aim 1 Determine the levels and distribution of enterotoxigenic Clostridium perfringens and Bacillus cereus spores in retail spices. Work continued to survey the levels and toxigenicity of Clostridium perfringens in U.S. retail foods, in particular, spices, and fresh meat and poultry. We reported upon the distribution of empsilon- and enterotoxin positive ?Clostridium perfringenes ?spores in US retail spices. Aim 2. Characterize biofilm formation in food pathogens and surrogates. We have continued to study natural antimicrobial s to destroy bacteria in biofilms. We have found that the composition of natural antimicrobial delivery systems will influence the antimicrobial influence, and treatment of sprouting seeds with antimicrobials will influence the antimicrobial diversity of the final product. Aim 4 Increase food safety knowledge of producers, conduct applied research relevant to food safety and design supports for adopting practices that will reduce the overall risk of foodborne illness and increase access to local and national wholesale markets. UMass Food Science Extension programming has reached over 200 stakeholders with delivery of food safety education and/or technical support that has helped guide decisions to reduce food safety within the food industry. The NECAFS group has expanded our tripled our network since last year which helps to build capacity to reach stakeholders with food safety knowledge that will help to reduce risk and increase market access.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Awaiting Publication Year Published: 2018 Citation: Lee, C.-A.and Labbe, R. Distribution of epsilon- and enterotoxin-positive Clostridium perfringens spores in U.S. retail spices. Journal of Food Protection, in press
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Landry, K. S., Sela, D. A., & McLandsborough, L. (2017). Influence of sprouting environment on the microbiota of sprouts. Journal of Food Safety. a12380
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Wang, L. J. G. Stoffolano and L. McLandsboorugh. 2017. Development of the fly crop vessel bioassay for fly/microbial studies. Afr. J. Microbiolol. Res. 11:1027-1034
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Awaiting Publication Year Published: 2018 Citation: Ryu V, McClements DJ, Corradini MG, McLandsborough L. 2018. Effect of ripening inhibitor type on formation, stability, and antimicrobial activity of thyme oil nanoemulsion. Food Chemistry 245:104-111
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2017 Citation: UMass Applied Research Showcase, South Deerfield, MA. 9/26/2017 McKeag, L, Brown, A., Porth, G., Kinchla, A.J., Callahan, C. Twilight Meeting: Produce Wash Station Design, Use and Maintenance: Meeting Produce Safety Requirements, Vegetable Extension Twilight Meeting. Atlas Farm, Deerfield, MA. September 26, 2017.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2017 Citation: MA Food Policy Council, Boylston, MA. 9/15/2017. Jellison, J., Sullivan Werner, L., Kinchla, A.J., Shoenfield, J. UMass Extension: Supporting MA. Food Systems. MA Food Policy Council, September 15, 2017. Boylston, MA.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: International Association of Food Protection, Tampa, FL. 7/10/2017. Ghostlaw, T., Chang, A., Kinchla, A.J. Comparison of commercial sanitizer monitoring strips. International Association of Food Protection.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Yang, T., Zhao, B., Kinchla, A.J., Clark, J., He, L. Investigation of Pesticide Penetration and Persistence on Harvested and Live Basil Leaves Using Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering Mapping. J. Agric. Food Chem., 2017, 65 (17), pp 35413550.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: International Association of Food Protection, Tampa, FL. 7/10/2017. Harper, K., Gensler, C., Kinchla, A.J. Assessing Optimal Sanitization Procedures for a Postharvest Produce Brush Washer. International Association of Food Protection, Tampa, FL., July 10, 2017.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2017 Citation: Harvest New England, Sturbridge, MA. 3/8/2017 Kinchla, A.J. Value Added: Value-Added Farm Ingredients for Success: Top Three Steps to be Production Ready. Harvest New England, Sturbridge, MA. March 8, 2017.


Progress 10/01/15 to 09/30/16

Outputs
Target Audience:Target Audience: The food safety program has a strong focus on conducting applied research to provide technical support and educational materials that serve the food industry. Our target audience has included academic and industrial researchers, public health authorities, and with a focus on small and medium scaled producers and processors within the northeast but address issues that are of national concern. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The following short courses have been offered for training and professional development: 1. November 2015. Better Process Control School. UMass Amherst, MA. 2. April 2016. Product Development Short Course. 1) Food Processing Center, Greenfield, MA ? 2) Commonwealth Kitchen, Dorchester, MA. 3. December, 2016. Introduction to HACCP. UMass Amherst, MA. 4. August, 2016. Produce Safety. UMass Research Farm, South Deerfield, MA. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results have been disseminated through presentations,online videos, short courses, and scientific publications What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Research will continue under each of the project aims.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? The long term goal of reducing the reducing the overall risk of foodborne illness Aim 1 Determine the levels and distribution of enterotoxigenic Clostridium perfringens and Bacillus cereus spores in retail spices. The heat resistance of isolates of Bacillus cereus from rice was determined as well as a) their ability to grow in a model food system at temperature abusive conditions b) the ability of spices to inhibit growth c) the role of natural microflora in the inhibition of growth of the organism. Aim 2. Characterize biofilm formation in food pathogens and surrogates. We have been studying natural antimicrobials to destroy cells in biofilms, and searching for molecules that induce biofilm dispersion. Aim 3. Develop rapid screening assays for bacterial contamination of produce. We have continued to develop rapid screening assays for produce contamination using both Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering Mapping and phage-mediated separation coupled with real-time PCR detection Aim 4 Increase food safety knowledge of producers, conduct applied research relevant to food safety and design supports for adopting practices that will reduce the overall risk of foodborne illness and increase access to local and national wholesale markets. Our program has helped to reduce food safety risks by providing the technical support, educational programming and extension materials to the food industry. Key activities that have helped to accomplish our goal include delivering 7 peer reviewed food safety related publications, 5 short courses, 1 standard operating procedure (SOP),and 4 on-farm food safety extension videos.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Hariram, U., & Labb�, R. G. (2016). Growth and inhibition by spices of growth from spores of enterotoxigenic Bacillus cereus in cooked rice. Food Control, 64, 60-64.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Zhang, Z., Guo, H., Carlisle, T., Mukherjee, A., Kinchla, A.J., White, J.C., Xing, B., He, L., September 2016. Evaluation of Postharvest Washing on AgNPs Removal from Spinach Leaves. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 64(37):6916-22. doi: 10.1021/acs.jafc.6b02705. 2. Wang D., Wang Z., He F., Kinchla AJ., Nugen SR. 2016 Aug. Enzymatic Digestion for Improved Bacteria Separation from Leafy Green Vegetables. J Food Prot.79(8):1378-86. doi: 10.4315/0362-028X.JFP-15-581.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Wang D., Wang Z., He F., Kinchla AJ., Nugen SR. 2016 Aug. Enzymatic Digestion for Improved Bacteria Separation from Leafy Green Vegetables. J Food Prot.79(8):1378-86. doi: 10.4315/0362-028X.JFP-15-581.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Tianxi Yang, Zhiyun Zhang, Bin Zhao, Ruyan Hou, Kinchla, A.J., John M. Clark, and Lili He. 2016. Real-Time and in Situ Monitoring of Pesticide Penetration in Edible Leaves by Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering Mapping. Anal. Chem., 88 (10), pp 52435250. doi: 10.1021/acs.analchem.6b00320.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Wang Z, Wang D, Kinchla A.J., Sela DA, Nugen SR. 2016 Apr 12. Rapid screening of waterborne pathogens using phage-mediated separation coupled with real-time PCR detection. Anal Bioanal Chem.408(15):4169-78. doi: 10.1007/s00216-016-9511-2.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Alcaine, S. D., Law, K., Ho, S., Kinchla, A. J., and Nugen. S. R. Bioengineering Bacteriophages to Enhance the Sensitivity of Phage Amplification-based Paper Fluidic Detection of Bacteria. Biosensors & Bioelectronics, Vol. 82. March 2016.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Chong, V., Kinchla, A.J., June 2016. Assessing Commercial Quality Control Tools for On-Farm Postharvest Sanitation. Journal of Food and Dairy Technology.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Wang, D., Wang, Z., Chen, J. Kinchla, A.J., Nugen, S.R. 2016. Rapid detection of Salmonella using a redox cycling-based electrochemical method. Food Control. Vol 62, Pg 81-88.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Huang, K., McLandsborough, L. A., & Goddard, J. M. (2016). Adhesion and removal kinetics of Bacillus cereus biofilms on Ni-PTFE modified stainless steel. Biofouling, 32(5), 523-533.
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Lawton M., Kinchla A., McKeag, L. 2015. Produce Wash Water Sanitizers: An Overview. Vegetable Notes. Vol 27:10.
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Kinchla, A., Harper, K. 2016. Produce Brush Washer Study: Finding a standard operating procedure. UMass Extension Vegetable Notes newsletter. Vegetable Notes. Vol 28:21.
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Kinchla, A., Harper, K. Standard Operating Procedure for Cleaning an Oesco Brush Washer. https://ag.umass.edu/sites/ag.umass.edu/files/brush_washer_ssop_and_log.pdf. 2016.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2016 Citation: Development of delivery systems for essential applications for foods and biofilm removal. Natural & Bio-based Antimicrobials for food applications symposium. 252nd ACS Annual Meeting and Exposition, Philadelphia PA. August, 24, 2016.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Wang, P., Pang, S., Chen, J., McLandsborough, L., Nugen, S. R., Fan, M., & He, L. (2016). Label-free mapping of single bacterial cells using surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy. Analyst, 141(4), 1356-1362.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2016 Citation: Landry, K. S., Komaiko, J., Wong, D. E., Xu, T., McCLEMENTS, D. J., & McLANDSBOROUGH, L. (2016). Inactivation of Salmonella on Sprouting Seeds Using a Spontaneous Carvacrol Nanoemulsion Acidified with Organic Acids. Journal of Food Protection, 79(7), 1115-1126.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2015 Citation: Kinchla, A.J. 2015. Applied Research for Improved Post-harvest Produce Washing. New England Vegetable Growers Conference, Manchester, NH