Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
Seamoss is a spiky, sea vegetable that somewhat resembles frisée lettuce when it is in the ocean. When dried and packaged, the plant looks like cooked ramen noodles with tangled tendrils that clump together. Food manufacturers harvest it for its carrageenan, an ingredient that acts as a thickening agent for food like ice cream, chocolate milk and creamers. Seamoss refers to specific types of algae or seaweed that are naturally rich in certain nutrients, and minerals like folate, vitamin K, iodine, magnesium, calcium. While the plant can be consumed raw or supplement forms, it is mostly eaten in gel. The gel is made by soaking the dried plan in water, blending it, and letting it solidify in the fridge. Seamoss products are often sold by small manufacturers in the form of gels, or as an ingredient to a smoothie, or other juices. The producers have little to no food safety knowledge. Unfortunately, there are no foods safety guide for the producers wishing to include this ingredient in a food product specifically a beverage. In October 2022, The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development has recalled lemonade and gel products sold by Royal Seamoss. While no illnesses have been reported, the consumers were warned not to use or consume the product. The seamoss gel is area of concern, the pH is typically above 4.60 unless acidified. Depending on the viscosity, this product might have anaerobic pocket if not packaged correctly. Thus, increasing the risk for C. botulinum.In 2011, the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) was signed into law to expand the regulatory authority of the FDA, allowing them to increase their focus on foodborne illness prevention and not just outbreak response. The edible seaweed has yet to be regulated although the consumption is project to increase. Therefore, the proposed project plan to analyze commercially available seamoss and seamoss gels for pathogens and heavy metals. Afterwards, we will test the three most popular seamoss recipes to see if they support the growth of pathogen during storage at room temperature and under refrigerated conditions. Finally, we will create guidance documents for the industry and disseminate the results on our website, webinar, conferences, and scientific publications.
Animal Health Component
0%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
0%
Applied
100%
Developmental
0%
Goals / Objectives
Seamoss, also known as Irish moss or Chondrus Crispus, is used as often a thickening agent. It is an edible sea vegetable in the algae family that is packed with nutrients like folate, vitamin K, B, iron, iodine, magnesium, zinc, and calcium. In the past three years, seamoss specifically has become very popular in US. Major news providers like The New York Times, CNBS, Forbes, Wall Street Journal, CBS news, the Seattle Times and many more have released articles highlighting seamoss potential health benefits. Celebrities like the Kardashian, and social media influencers are raving about the benefits and encouraging its consumption. During COVID, there has been an increase of seamoss products sold in the US market because it was believed to fight against the pandemic. Unfortunately, there are no foods safety guide for the producers wishing to include this ingredient in a food product specifically a beverage. Therefore, we proposed to:Objective 1: Survey commercially available seamoss products for physiochemical properties, microbial quality and heavy metals.Objective 2: Evaluate pathogens growth based on seamoss gel formulations and producers handling procedures.Objective 3: Identify critical control points to produce safe seamoss beverages and develop training and extension material for producers
Project Methods
Objective 1: Dried seamoss samples and seamoss gels will be purchased and collected, on a nation-wide basis from retail specialty show, farmers market, and online sources. Once samples are received, the seamoss type, the harvesting locations, purchase location will be recorded and coded accordingly. The water activity (Aw), the pH, Brix, Dissolved Oxygen (DO) will be measured using a water activity meters, a pH meter, refractometer, and a DO sensor specifically. The Aw will be tested for dried seamoss. And the pH, Brix, and DO will be measured for the seamoss gels. Dried seamoss and seamoss gels samples will be analyzed for aerobic plate count, yeast and mold, coliform, E. coli O157:H7, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, Vibrio spp., Listeria monocytogenes, and Salmonella spp. according to Bacteriological Analytical Manual. All experiments will be performed in triplicate. The data will be analyzed using descriptive statistics, graphs, and tables. And all statistical analysis will be performed using R or a similar softwareObjective 2: Isolated colonies from Objective 1 (E. coli, Salmonella spp., L. monocytogenes, B. cereus, Vibrio spp., Aeromonas spp.) will be grown overnight in Tryptic Soy Broth overnight at 35°C. Culture will be diluted to spot inoculated the dried seamoss. The inoculum will be 10 ml or less to not modify the water activity of the original product. The dried inoculated seamoss (10 g) will be soaked in sterile water (90 g) and stored at refrigerated and room temperatures (~4 and 20°C). The soaking times will vary from 0, 4, 6, 12, and 24 hours. An additional variable is that we also soak the seamoss for 24 hours with 1 and 5% lemon juice and study the pathogens survival. At the end of the soaking time, the microbial population will be quantified in the seamoss and the water. Samples will be serially diluted in the appropriate buffer, homogenized, and plated on the selective media accordingly. Experiments will be done in triplicate. We will use three of the most used seamoss gel recipe that we collected and summarized. This a standard shelf life study and pathogens will not be used here. We will prepare the seamoss gel as suggested and perform a shelf life study on it. The gels will be stored under refrigeration and at room temperature. We will test on days 0, 7, 14, 21, 28, 35 when refrigerated. When stored at room temperature, we will test on days 0, 3, 6, 9. The study will be terminated if there are visible signs of spoilage, or the microbial count is over 6 log CFU for total plate count or yeast/mold count.Objective 3: Based on results from Obj. 1 and 2, we will characterize the specific hazards associated with seamoss. We will make recommendations to mitigate the food safety risk during processing and handling. CCPs will be determined for each specific processing and handling step of producing seamoss beverages. Once completed, beverage producers can incorporate CCPs in their HACCP plan. We will focus on developing guide "Food Safety Recommendations for Seamoss Beverage Producers" that will include training and extension materials for three the targeted groups: (i) the small beverages producers, (ii) the regulators, and (iii) the extension personnel and educators. This proposed guide will be tool to support the seamoss industry. It will review the critical control points and measures recommended to produce safe seamoss beverages. The educational resources will be developed based on current knowledge and new knowledge generated by the proposed.