Source: PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY submitted to
ANTIMICROBIAL INTERVENTIONS FOR MEAT AND POULTRY PRODUCTS
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
NEW
Funding Source
HATCH
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1018953
Grant No.
(N/A)
Project No.
PEN04696
Proposal No.
(N/A)
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Program Code
(N/A)
Project Start Date
May 30, 2019
Project End Date
Mar 31, 2024
Grant Year
(N/A)
Project Director
Campbell, JO, A.
Recipient Organization
PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY
208 MUELLER LABORATORY
UNIVERSITY PARK,PA 16802
Performing Department
Animal Science
Non Technical Summary
Meat processors are innovators and, as such, have numerous ingredients and production practices to create similar products between different companies for the consumer to purchase and enjoy. The variety of tools and methods used to create meat products provides food safety challenges for regulatory compliance. These innovators are an essential link in the farm-to-table food chain. Raw agricultural commodities, such as meat, always carry microorganisms and sometimes harbor pathogens that may cause illness. Thus, food safety interventions are required to protect consumers. However, small and medium sized meat processors, the backbone of the local and regional supply chain, have limited resources and constantly struggle to comply with increasingly complex food safety regulations. Their inability to stay abreast of changing technology puts smaller processors at a competitive disadvantage. Without help from public sources such as Penn State Extension, these smaller companies are at greater risk of business failure and/or have more challenges complying with federal regulations. The work proposed here is intended to help small meat processors validate safe processing procedures and evaluate new technologies for improving microbial safety. As a result of this work, small and medium sized meat processors will be better able to advance their technical foundations of their business model. They will be more likely to survive the rigors of constantly changing market conditions and will continue playing a central role in local food systems.The needs for this work creates natural connections among extension, research and educational efforts. Specific objectives orginate from contacts and communication among extension faculty and industry stakeholders. In each research area proposed by this project, undergraduate and graduate students will be involved in laboratory and field research. Teaching faculty connected with the work will utilize project examples and research findings to give their students access to the most current information available. Field research activities and delivery of research findings to clients will involve coordinated efforts with extension faculty and staff.
Animal Health Component
0%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
0%
Applied
95%
Developmental
5%
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
71235201100100%
Knowledge Area
712 - Protect Food from Contamination by Pathogenic Microorganisms, Parasites, and Naturally Occurring Toxins;

Subject Of Investigation
3520 - Meat, swine;

Field Of Science
1100 - Bacteriology;
Keywords
Goals / Objectives
1. Investigate how pathogens and spoilage organisms of interest react during various processing parameters and in different processing environments to produce safe meat and poultry products.2. Determine the degree of microbioal destruction by Pulsed UV light and other new and emerging technologies at product surface, as well as measure the survival/destruction of selected microorganisms at differing penetration depths for meat products exposed to these new antimicrobial treatments.
Project Methods
1. Investigate various critical parameters used during meat processing. a. Utilize manufacturing processes more closely mimicking specific industry practices to assess the validity of the procedures used to manufacture meat and poultry. b. Create challenge studies by use of surrogates as a m odel to explore where survival of pathogens needs to be addressed in specific areas from harvest to consumer of the production chain. c. Explore the survival of specific pathogenic strains of microorganisms identified in foodborne illness outbreaks during various stages of manufacturing.2. External evaluation fo new and innovative technologies (e.g. Pulsed Ultra Violet (PUV) light, High Pressure Processing, etc.) for destruction of bacteria on meat or poultry. a. Inoculated fresh meat or poultry products will be subjected to PUV light for varied times to assess bacterial destruction on various products. b. A model system will be developed for use in evaluating the depth of penetration of PUV light to the interior of treated products. c. Meat or poultry products with differing surface characteristics will be evaluated for differences in the antimicrobial effectiveness of PUV treatments.

Progress 10/01/19 to 09/30/20

Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience areacademia and general public (specifically meat processors). Changes/Problems:The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has created numerous challenges and limitatons to all reseach and outreach efforts. This continues to require special attention, especially given space and limited number of personnel allowed in laboratories. Nonetheless, work was completed for the current reporting period. The 2021 reporting period may prove even more challenging depending on potential new restrictions or reductions in research institution-wide. The Salumi 101 short course, mentioned in the 2019 progress report, was canceled due to the pandemic and unfortunately was not able to share current food safety findings from both AES 4696 and previous 4562 projects. Two attempts at garnering external funding sources were not successful and a third is still in the review process. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?An undergraduate researcher completed the table egg decontamination project with mentoring from a PhD student who was the first (to the best of our knowledge)to utilize a conveyor system equipped with pulsed UV light technology as a method or combination of methods to reduce or eliminate microorganisms from product surfaces. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results have been disseminated through peer-reviewed journals and proceedings of scientific meetings. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We will continue to seek additonal sources of funding to perform research activities within the limited laboratory activities allowed. Additional publications from the current reporting period will be submittedand, hopefully, accepted and published.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Although the pandemic severely slowed progress of our accomplishments this reporting period, several key items were completed to meet the major goals identified for the larger project. Several challenge or validation studies were performed utilizing surrogate organisms in placeof food pathogens. These include the following:decontamination of high moisture pet food (major goal 1;Mills), investigating pulsed ultraviolet light as an additional means of sanitizing food grade plasticand stainless steel conveyor materials and parts (major goal 2;Campbell), as well as the fate of pathogen surrogates inoculated on table eggs using pulsed UV light as a decontamination mechanism (major goal 2;Mills 75%, Campbell 25%).

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2020 Citation: Watson, S.C., N.J. Gaydos, S.R. McKinney and J.A. Campbell. Fate of E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella spp. and Listeria monocytogenes during curing and drying of beef bresaola. Meat and Muscle Biology (in review)
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Accepted Year Published: 2020 Citation: Cassar, J.R., A. Dimirci, J.A. Campbell and E.W. Mills. Pulsed Ultraviolet Light Decontamination of Meat Conveyor Contact Surfaces. Joint RMC-ICoMST Preceedings.


Progress 05/30/19 to 09/30/19

Outputs
Target Audience:The target audience is academia and general public (specifically meat processors). Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Results have been disseminated through peer-reviewed journals. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?After seeking and securing additional funding, research projects will be conducted in the form of challenge studies that depict a "worse-case scenario" of food safety to show how various food pathogens of interest can be eliminated or reduced to a level of safety that is sufficient for regulatory requirements.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? During the four months of this reporting timeframe, we have begun to plan the research that will be needed for the objectives listed. Specifically, we have been working with our external collaborators to address current practices for the critical food safety parameters used during meat processing that may not be scientifically valid. These parameters serve as questions to answer during specific validation research. Extramural funding has also been applied for from several sources to support these efforts. In addition, a conveyor prototype system was obtained from Xenon Corporation (Wilmington, MA) to assist in our investigations of how pulsed ultraviolet light destroys microorganisms. This conveyor system will more closely mimic meat and food product movement on the conveyor at commercial scale instead of past research conducted in a static system. Based on the work from the previous AES project (project PEN04562), we have submitted book chapters and peer-reviewed manuscripts for publication. These items are still in the review and editing process prior to publication in 2019-2020. Many of the conclusions made from data collected during project PEN04562 have been incorporated into a nationally recognized meat processing short course, Salumi 101. This short course merges the art of creating Old-world products, like salami or prosciutto, while embracing modern technology and food safety practices. The results from the projects conducted are used by meat processors all over the United States to validate the safe production of meat products made under the USDA Food Safety & Inspection Service regulatory compliance.

Publications

  • Type: Book Chapters Status: Under Review Year Published: 2019 Citation: J.A. Campbell and M.W. Bucknavage. "Chapter 6: Prerequisite Programs - cGMPs, SOPs and SSOPs" published in "Food Safety Engineering". 2019.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Submitted Year Published: 2019 Citation: MMB-2019-08-0033-ORA. J.R. Cassar, A. Demirci, J.A. Campbell and E.w. Mills.Decontamination of Chicken Thigh Meat by Pulsed Ultraviolet Light.