Source: WESTERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY submitted to NRP
A MULTISTATE PARTNERSHIP FOR IMPROVING THE SAFETY OF MEAT AND POULTRY AT FARMERS MARKETS THROUGH INTEGRATING TEACHING, RESEARCH, AND EXTENSION ACTIVITIES
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
ACTIVE
Funding Source
OTHER GRANTS
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1028579
Grant No.
2022-70001-37312
Cumulative Award Amt.
$749,724.00
Proposal No.
2022-01108
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Jul 1, 2022
Project End Date
Jun 30, 2026
Grant Year
2022
Program Code
[NLGCA]- Capacity Building Grants for Non Land Grant Colleges of Agriculture
Recipient Organization
WESTERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY
1906 COLLEGE HEIGHTS BLVD #11026
BOWLING GREEN,KY 421011000
Performing Department
Engineering & Applied Sciences
Non Technical Summary
With the increasing demand for "local" foods, farmers markets are becoming a significant and integrated part of the local food system. With many farmers moving into the business of processing and selling their own meat and poultry, it is becoming more evident that these products are generally less regulated and may come with their own food safety risks. The overall goal of this multi-institutional, interdisciplinary, integrated project is to enhance the safety of meat and poultry at farmers markets and other sources of direct farmer-to-consumer sales through integrating education, research, and outreach activities. This goal will be accomplished by 1) enhancing the food science curriculum and research capacity at Western Kentucky University, 2) training the next generation of agriculture and food science students with experiential skills, 3) collecting much-needed data on microbial safety of processed meat and poultry, 4) assessing knowledge and practices of farmers market vendors, 5) evaluating consumers' perceptions of meat and poultry safety risks, and 6) establishing an infrastructure for small meat and poultry processors and vendors to develop innovative strategies to control pathogenic microorganisms on meat and poultry products and to gain the knowledge to ensure both food safety and the profitability. This project is a collaborative effort between Western Kentucky University, West Virginia University, and Wayne State University to increase the number and diversity of students entering food and agriculture-related science and enhance food safety that will lead to promoting rural prosperity and economic development to meat and poultry farmers.
Animal Health Component
80%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
80%
Developmental
20%
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
71232601103100%
Knowledge Area
712 - Protect Food from Contamination by Pathogenic Microorganisms, Parasites, and Naturally Occurring Toxins;

Subject Of Investigation
3260 - Poultry meat;

Field Of Science
1103 - Other microbiology;
Goals / Objectives
The overall goal of this multi-institutional, interdisciplinary, integrated project is to enhance the safety of locally processed meat and poultry at farmers markets and other sources of direct farmer-to-consumer sales through integrating education, research, and outreach activities. The specific objectives of this project are to: 1) develop new curricula integrating food science, experiential training, and research experiences, 2) isolate and identify bacteriophages and test their efficacy by electrostatic sprayer on chicken meat, 3) determine food safety practices among small poultry and meat processors and vendors, 4) evaluate consumers acceptance of the use of phages to control pathogens and determine the economic feasibility of the proposed pathogen control strategy, and 5) develop food safety educational and training materials and organize workshops for small poultry and meat vendors.
Project Methods
Obj. 1. To enhance the food science capacity at WKU, Drs. Khouryieh and Silva are collaborating Dr. Cangliang Shen from WVU and Dr. Yifan Zhang from WSU to develop a three-credit hour course in food microbiology to complement the already existed food science courses. We will also develop microbial techniques to enhance the experiential skills of the food science students through hands on experiments in food microbiology. This course will help us promote an improved curriculum and instructional materials to increase the quality of the food science curriculum to attract, recruit, and retain students in the food and agricultural sciences fields at WKU. To foster students' research interest and to encourage them to pursue advanced degrees in agriculture and food sciences, we will conduct student summer research trainings. The training program will allow us to enrich WKU students' learning and to develop better-rounded and capable students for a growing job market. We will support students to visit WKU, WVU, and WSU campuses to study food science and agricultural sciences. Gaining hands-on experience at WKU's meat science lab will be a very important component of the summer research training. Students at WVU and WSU will learn about phage and electrostatic-spray protocols. We will train at least eight motivated students annually with hands on research on microbial determination and meat science during the 8-week summer period. Students will be recruited through the annual Gatton Academy of Science & Math and the Mahurin Honors College Research Fairs.Obj.2. C. jejuni phages will be isolated from poultry litter, or broiler intestinal content will be collected from WKU and WVU poultry farms. Poultry samples will be diluted in PBS centrifuged (2000 × g, 10min) with the supernatant filtered and treated with chloroform (1:100), followed by adding filtered sample to a log-phase C. jejuni indicator in 16.5mL of double-strength Bolton Broth and incubated at 42.5°C for 24 h in a microaerophilic environment. Filtrated supernatant will be spotted on modified charcoal cefoperazone deoxycholate agar seeded with individual C. jejuni indicator strains RM5032, RM1188, and RM1464 followed by incubation. Phage plaques will be purified and tested for host ranges by a spot lysis assay. Phages with broad host ranges will be randomly selected for visualization by TEM as well as WGS to determine the genetic characteristics of isolated phage for food application. Phage DNA will be extracted using the Norgen phage DNA isolation kit (Norgen Biotek), followed by WGS at the Applied Genomics Technology Center (AGTC) at WSU. To evaluate the efficacy of electrostatic spraying with C. jejuni phage to inactivate stress adapted C. jejuni on chicken wings, fresh raw chicken wings will be inoculated by adding 10ml of unstressed or acid, cold, and starvation stress adapted C. jejuni inoculum prepared. Inoculated chicken wings will be sprayed from a distance of 15 or 30cm by an electrostatic sprayer or a conventional sprayer containing isolated C. jejuni phage (103, 104, and 106 PFU/ml) from Task1 for 15s, 30s, or 60s, turned over, sprayed for another 15 s, 30 s or 60 s, and then air dried for 1min. Two sprayed chicken wings in each treatment will be individually placed into PCV-film trays and stored at 4, 7 and 12oC in a simulated commercial retail display case for up to 21d after discussion with stakeholders. Survival of C. jejuni from chicken samples will be tested every 3 days during the storage period. Campylobacter plates will be incubated in a 42?C chamber under microaerophilic conditions (5% O2, 10% CO2, and 85% N2) for 48-72h. The experiments involve four different stress types, three different phage concentrations, two different sprayer distances, three different spray times, and two spraying methods, resulting in a total of 144 sets of combinations.Obj.3. Surveys will be developed via Qualtrics Software to gather information on knowledge and application of phages in poultry and meat products and determine the factors that affect their acceptance of the technology as well as food safety practices by small poultry and meat vendors and processors. The survey will be used to measure knowledge current safety practices and the likelihood of implementing safety practices such as phage technology as an alternative strategy to antibiotics for poultry. The survey will be administered to small poultry and meat vendors and processors who are present at farmers markets located in KY, WV, and MI. The farmers markets will be selected from different regions with varying degrees of population size and density to ensure that we obtain data from a sample of farmers who sell their poultry and meat in different regions and sell their meat and poultry in different sized markets.Obj.4. To determine the acceptance of phage to control pathogens in food products, poultry product in particular, consumer surveys will be developed via Qualtrics Software. The surveys will focus consumers' purchasing habits, perceptions of food safety risks in poultry products, and knowledge on current pathogen control strategies, their attitudes toward the use of phages in poultry products, consumers view of the application of phages to control pathogens compared to other common food safety concerns (e.g., pesticide residue, antibiotic resistance, etc.), as well as how their perceptions correlate with potential food safety regulations on the phage technology. We will also perform a standard Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) to evaluate the economic feasibility of the proposed sanitizing method. Cost items may include the initial set-up, operating, and maintenance expenses of the electrostatic sprayer. Benefits to poultry processors include additional revenues resulting from customers who would otherwise not purchase due to safety concerns. The total benefits and costs will then be discounted using the prevailing interest rate to obtain their respective present values, the difference of which gives the net present value (NPV) of adopting the proposed method. Due to the various sizes among meat processors/vendors, potential variation in input costs, and market prices, we will specify a range of these values and then determine the effects of these changes on the NPVs of both scenarios, i.e. adopting the proposed method or using existing practices.Obj.5. We will develop educational materials for training and distribution at farmers markets. Food safety modules for small meats and poultry farmers will be developed for both face-to-face and online training. The online materials will be independent, self-paced modules and will serve as a valuable tool with the added benefit of being convenient and cost effective. Each training module will have specific learning objectives to highlight some of the important points of each module and to guide participants' learning as they progress through the modules. We will develop a series of friendly fact sheets to educate both consumers and small farmers on meat and poultry safety. The fact sheets will be written in a simple language and will be only 1-2 pages long. To ensure accuracy and usefulness for the fact sheets, expert reviews will be conducted throughout the developmental stages of the fact sheets. We will train small poultry and meat processors and vendors through workshops on proper food safety practices from field to market. A series of workshops will be conducted and evaluated targeting small poultry and meat processors and vendors. We will organize and conduct one-day training workshops utilizing the previously developed educational materials. The workshops will be held in person at the campuses of WKU, WVU, and WSU as well as online to meet the needs of those unable to travel. Feedback and evaluative information will be gathered using pre- and post-questionnaires.

Progress 07/01/24 to 06/30/25

Outputs
Target Audience:During this reporting period, we engaged students majoring in food, animal, nutritional, and agricultural sciences from Western Kentucky University (WKU), West Virginia University (WVU), and Wayne State University (WSU). These students participated in research and outreach activities aligned with the grant's objectives, gaining hands-on experience in food safety and public health practices. We reached and collaborated with meat and poultry vendors at farmers markets, as well as small poultry producers, in Kentucky, West Virginia, and Michigan. These interactions focused on improving food safety knowledge and practices among local meat and poultry handlers. We also reached to consumers shopping at farmers markets, with a particular emphasis on those purchasing meat and poultry products. Educational efforts were made to raise awareness of safe food handling and purchasing practices. Changes/Problems:We have requested a one-year, no-cost extension for our grant to successfully complete the grant objectives. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?At WKU, we have provided training, mentoring, and financial support for two graduate students and one undergraduate student. Two graduate students are pursuing their master's degrees in agriculture and food science at WKU. Dr. Khouryieh and Co-PI Dr. Silva conducted an eight-week research internship in food science for 7 high school students. At WVU, Corey Coe is a PhD student supported by this grant and he completed his PhD defense in May 2025 and expects to graduate in summer 2025. We also recruited Mr. Gary Freshour as a new PhD student to conduct consumer survey studies in summer 2025. At WSU, two graduate students are trained on questionnaire development, community engagement, lab experiments, and data analysis. Survey study helps students identify community needs for future research. Integrating new knowledge into existing food science courses offers students opportunities to develop a systems-based understanding of food safety issues. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?For the 23/24 year, the research results were presented at the annual meetings of International Association of Food Protection, the annual Kentucky Academy of Science Conference in Kentucky as well as the student research conference at WKU. The Co-PD Dr. Shen has created an outreach website with videos and fact sheets related to the microbial safety of locally processed poultry meat at WV. The website is under design and constructed with Ms. Hanna Booth with WVU Extension Services and expects to be established in summer 2025. We also conducted a farmers market vendors survey in Feb 2025 at WV Small Farm Conference in Charleston, Civic Center, WV. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We will finish collecting and analyzing the consumer and vendor surveys from farmers markets in Kentucky, West Virginia, and Michigan and publish the results in Food Control and Tends in Food Protection journals. We disseminate more results at regional and national conferences. We plan to publish 4 peer-review publications related to microbial safety of locally processed poultry meat and consumer and vendors surveys in the next grant cycle.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Obj. 1- At WKU, we have created and taught a three-credit graduate course in food microbiology. Six graduate students were enrolled in it. Dr. Khouryieh and Dr. Silva have conducted an eight week summer research experience for 7 high school students (5 females and 2 males) at WKU. The primary objective of the summer research training was to help students gain hands-on research experience and to encourage students to pursue degrees in agriculture and food sciences. During the 8-week internship participants were required to make research plans, complete supervised research experiments, summarize the literature, collect data, conduct statistical analysis, and write conference abstracts. Specific activities include evaluating the effect of soy and pea proteins on the quality of hybrid meats and measuring the content of fat, protein, moisture, ash, pH values, water activity, color, texture, and lipid oxidation. At WSU, experimental procedures on microbial isolation and phage identification have been developed and integrated into the lab component of undergraduate courses, NFS4150 Advanced Food Science and NFS5150 Food Safety Assurance. These courses cover food safety practices and food processing technology. The survey data collected so far have also helped strengthen the existing curricula. One graduate student is participating in the course's enhancement. Obj. 3- We conducted a survey to assess meat and poultry knowledge and practices among Kentucky farmers market vendors. Thirty-three vendors from eleven different farmers' markets participated. The results showed that 72.7% of respondents identified feathers, feces, internal organs, equipment, and water as potential sources of contamination during raw poultry processing. However, only 27.3% of vendors correctly identified Campylobacter as a harmful pathogen associated with raw poultry. Regarding vendor practices, 15.2% transport their poultry meat to farmers markets in a cooler without ice. The majority (77.7%) of the vendors agreed that their poultry products sold at farmers markets are safer than those found in supermarkets. Despite this, 69.7% of vendors expressed a desire for more HACCP training, with 37.5% favoring online video training. These findings suggest a knowledge gap regarding pathogens associated with meat and poultry, indicating a need for additional training to improve awareness. Co-PIs at WVU and WSU are analyzing the vendors survey data and will report it in the next reporting period. Obj. 4- At WKU, we investigated consumers' knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding the safety of meat and poultry products sold at Kentucky farmers' markets. A 24 question, paper-based survey was developed and administered to Kentucky farmers' markets shoppers. The data were statistically analyzed by using Stata17 software through utilizing multinomial logit and ordered probit models to examine factors associated with level of knowledge, attitude, and practice towards meat and poultry safety among consumers. We found that consumers who believe the quality of products at farmers' markets is superior are more likely to trust the safety of meat and poultry sold at these markets (0.593, p < 0.01). Female consumers are significantly more likely to support government regulation of meat and poultry products sold at Kentucky farmers' markets (0.653, p < 0.1). With regards to consumer practices, female (0.756, P < 0.05) are 75.6% more likely to use disposable plastic bags for poultry at farmers markets to contain any leakage that could cross-contaminate cooked foods or fresh produce, indicating a gender difference in concern for cross-contamination during shopping. Higher education is positively associated (0.960, P < 0.1) with always cooking poultry to a safe internal temperature. The results of this study will be presented at the 2025 International Association of Food Protection Conference in Clevland, OH. At WVU, we conducted a consumer survey at West Virginia FMs to determine their knowledge, attitude, and practices regarding microbial food safety of meat and poultry products purchased at FMs. Face-to-face questionnaire with a total of 13 questions was interviewed to 116 consumers at 2 FMs in north central WV from June to September 2024. Questions include basic information (age, gender, and education level), purchasing frequency, handling including refrigerating of meat and poultry, concerns of microbial safety, and responsibility of food safety. Data from 116 completed surveys were analyzed using Chi-square tests (R-software) of independence to examine differences and bivariate relationships between categorical variables (P = 0.05). Results showed that 36.2-62.1% of participants purchase meat products 1-3 times per season but less than half (25.9-45.7%, P < 0.05) purchase poultry. The majority of the participants (69.0%) thought "Eating local to assist our local farmers and economy" was the most important factor that encouraged them to purchase meat and poultry products at farmers markets over supermarkets. Only 4.3% (P < 0.05) of participants indicated food safety concerns as a reason that would prohibit their purchase of meat and poultry products, yet 71.6-81.9% (P < 0.05) could not identify a pathogenic bacteria associated with these products. Less than one-third of participants (28.4% and 27.7%, respectively) use disposable plastic bags to prohibit cross-contamination by leakage onto fresh produce, or pack a cooler, insulated bag, ice chest, or ice packs to keep meat and poultry products cool on the way home. An overwhelming 97.4% of participants, however, immediately place fresh meat and poultry products in a refrigerator that remains below 40 F, while 94.8% always cook their meat products to a minimum internal temperature of 165 F. Significance: The results emphasized the need for continuing consumer education regarding safe food handling practices at WVFMs and at home. The results of this study will be presented at the 2025 International Association of Food Protection Conference in Clevland, OH. At WSU, the survey data collected so far have also helped strengthen the existing curricula. The data from Michigan demonstrate the confidence of food vendors and shoppers in the meat sold at local farmers markets. Yet, shoppers also expressed their support for enhanced technology and regulation on local food safety. A wide array of answers provided by the participants suggest the need for education on topics such as common microbial pathogens in meat and poultry, source of contamination, common sanitizing and food safety control at processing level. One graduate student is participating in this research. Obj. 5- We have developed two educational fact sheets for very small poultry producers on controlling Campylobacter and Salmonella in raw poultry. The fact sheets will be distributed to small poultry producers at farmers markets and made available to extension agents and other professionals working with small poultry farmers.

Publications

  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2025 Citation: McBride, S., Khouryieh, H. A review on the safety of meat and poultry products sold at farmers markets. The 55th Annual Student Scholar Showcase, April 5, 2025, Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, KY.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2025 Citation: McBride, S., Khouryieh, H., & Silva, L. Effect of soy-based textured vegetable protein and textured pea protein mixtures on the physicochemical properties of hybrid beef burger patties. American Chemical Society (ACS) National Meeting, March 23-27, San Diego, CA.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Massey, S. & Khouryieh, H. An examination of meat and poultry safety knowledge among Kentucky farmers market vendors. Kentucky Academy of Science Annual Meeting, November 1-2, 2024, Kentucky State University, Frankfort, Kentucky.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Massey, S., Khouryieh, H., & Silva, L. Investigating the effects of xanthan gum and locust bean gum on the quality properties of low-fat sausages. Kentucky Academy of Science Annual Meeting, November 1-2, 2024, Kentucky State University, Frankfort, Kentucky.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Khouryieh, M. & Khouryieh, H. Understanding Consumers' Awareness of Meat and Poultry Safety at Kentucky Farmers' Markets. Kentucky Academy of Science Annual Meeting, November 1-2, 2024, Kentucky State University, Frankfort, Kentucky.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: McBride, S. & Khouryieh, H. Food safety of meat and poultry at farmers' markets. Kentucky Academy of Science Annual Meeting, November 1-2, 2024, Kentucky State University, Frankfort, Kentucky.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Pullen, C., Silva, L., & Khouryieh, H. Effects of TVP and TPP Mixtures on the Color and Cooking Loss of Hybrid Beef Burger Patties. Kentucky Academy of Science Annual Meeting, November 1-2, 2024, Kentucky State University, Frankfort, Kentucky.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Khouryieh, M., Khouryieh, H., Gumirakiza, D., Silva, L., Shen, S., & Zhang, Y. Consumer Perceptions of Meat and Poultry Safety at Kentucky Farmers' Markets. International Association of Food Protection Conference, July 14-17, 2024, Long Beach, CA.


Progress 07/01/23 to 06/30/24

Outputs
Target Audience:During this reporting period, our efforts have reached several distinct target audiences, contributing to the diverse impact of our project: We engaged 5 undergraduate students and 5 graduate students from WKU, WVU, and WSUin activities related to the grant objectives. These students benefited from formal classroom instruction, laboratory experiences, and practical learning opportunities. We provided a summer internship in food science that attracted 5 female and 2 male high school students. This group included one African American and two Asian Americans, reflecting our commitment to diversity and inclusion. These students gained valuable exposure to food science through hands-on experiences and mentorship. Our outreach extended to consumers and vendors at farmers markets, particularly focusing on meat and poultry products. We engaged with consumers interested in the quality and safety of these products, providing them with science-based information and education. Additionally, we collaborated with meat and poultry vendors at farmers markets in Kentucky, West Virginia, and Michigan. By working closely with these vendors, we aimed to enhance their knowledge and practices related to food safety. Changes/Problems:During the FY23 cycle, WVU underwent a challenging academic transformation process, which included reduction-in-force measures resulting in numerous faculty members leaving the university. This uncertainty significantly impacted the progress of our project, as Dr. Shen's team was concerned about job security withing the WVU institution. However, despite these challenges, Co-PI Dr. Shen team made every effort to achieve as many of the planned project goals as possible and ensure progress in our grant-related endeavors. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?At WKU, we have provided training, mentoring, and financial support for three graduate students and three undergraduate students. Two graduate students are pursuing their master's degrees in agriculture and food science at WKU, and one student is pursuing his PhD in Food Science at WVU. The students helped in conducting literature review and in the development of the questionnaires and are currently administering them at farmers' markets. Dr. Khouryieh and Co-PI Dr. Silva conducted an eight-week research internship in food science for 7 high school students (5 females and 2 males) from May 6 to June 28. The primary objective of the student summer research training was to foster students' research interest in the emphasis areas and to encourage students to pursue advanced degrees in agriculture and food sciences. The students had hands-on experience in conducting research and gained food science knowledge and skills while earning academic credits for their learning. Training activities included making research plans, completing supervised research experiments, data collection, statistical analysis, and contributing to conference abstracts. One undergraduate student who attended our last internship has been accepted into the master's program in food science at University of Tennessee and another student has been accepted to pursue her master's degree in agriculture and food science at WKU. At WVU, we recruited Ms. Carly Long to complete poultry microbial safety testing in our WV local community including farmers market association. Most recently, we've welcomed Mr. Gary Freshour as our new PhD student and initiated a survey among farmers market poultry meat vendors in West Virginia, focusing on assessing their knowledge and practices related to poultry meat processing, worker health, sanitation, microbial safety concerns, post-harvest practices, barriers to adopting new procedures like MPPU, perceptions of microbial contamination, and interest in future poultry safety workshops. At WSU, two graduate students are trained on questionnaire development, community engagement, data analysis, project management, and presentation skills. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?KY small meat and poultry vendors. For the 23/24 year, the research results were presented at the annual meeting of International Association of Food Protection in Toronto, Canada, the American Meat Science Association (AMSA) Reciprocal Meat Conference (RMC) in Oklahoma City, the annual Kentucky Academy of Science Conference in Kentucky as well as the student research conference at WKU. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?During the upcoming reporting period, we have a comprehensive plan in place to achieve our project goals: We will persist in administering surveys at farmers markets across Kentucky, West Virginia, and Michigan. This ongoing data collection effort is crucial for gathering insights into food safety practices among small poultry and meat processors and vendors. Once the surveys are completed, we will analyze the collected data rigorously. The results will be disseminated at regional and national conferences, enhancing knowledge sharing and promoting best practices in food safety within the industry. Our research plan includes isolating and identifying bacteriophages specifically targeting poultry pathogens. These bacteriophages will be tested for efficacy using an electrostatic sprayer on chicken meat, aiming to develop innovative strategies for enhancing food safety. We are planning to conduct summer research internships in food science for both undergraduate and high school students. These internships will provide valuable hands-on experience and foster interest in food safety and agricultural sciences among future professionals. We will create educational materials focused on controlling Salmonella and Campylobacter in raw poultry, specifically tailored for small farm vendors of meat and poultry. These materials will serve as a comprehensive guide, promoting the adoption of food safety practices to mitigate microbial hazards.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Obj. 1- we have created a three-credit course in food safety. The food safety course was taught by Dr. Khouryieh at Western Kentucky University (WKU) with 17 students enrolled in it. A new Mobile Poultry Processing Microbial Safety Handbook, written by Dr. Shen and Ms. Lisa Jones, has been adopted by the WV Small Farm Center and the WV Farmers Market Association as food safety guidelines for very small poultry processors in West Virginia. Dr. Khouryieh and Dr. Silva have conducted an eight week summer research experience for high school and undergraduate students at WKU. Three high school students (two males and one female) and two undergraduate students (two females) were participated in the summer research training. The students investigated the effect of partial substitution of fat on the physicochemical, texture, and sensory properties of low fat sausage formulated with xanthan-locust bean gum mixtures. The data was analyzed by SAS software using PROC MIXED procedure and the means were compared using Tukey's test at 5% significance level. Substituting part of the fat with a XLB gum mixture in meat emulsions has the potential to create healthier restructured meat products that contain less fat. The findings of this research were presented at American Meat Science Association (AMSA) Reciprocal Meat Conference (RMC), Kentucky Academy of Science Annual Meeting, and 54th Annual Student Scholar Showcase at WKU. Obj. 2- Under objective 2 we evaluated the anti-salmonella efficacy of vinegar water of 0, 4.8, 9.6, and 12.5% during the chilling process of commercialized broiler samples. Fresh organic broiler carcasses were surface inoculated with Salmonella Typhimurium followed by dip-chilling in refrigerated water for one hour. The broiler carcasses were rinsed with D/E neutralizing solution in a standard poultry sampling bag for 30 seconds followed by 10-fold serial dilution and spread plating onto Tryptic soy agar and XLT-4 agar, respectively. Results showed an overall 0.29 log reduction for 4.8 % vinegar water, 0.31 log reduction for 9.6%, and an overall 1.55 log increase for 12.5%. These results indicate relying only on commercial vinegar may not effectively control Salmonella on broiler carcasses due to the limited acetic acid concentration in chilling water. Obj. 3- we have developed, tested, and approved an 18-question survey to assess knowledge and food safety practices among small poultry and meat processors and vendors. To date, 19 surveys have been successfully completed. Looking ahead, the graduate student will continue administering the survey this summer and the collected data will be analyzed and reported in the next reporting period. At WVU, a new PhD student was recruited, and we are conducting a survey of 30-50 small, local broiler processors in West Virginia. Questionnaires will assess their knowledge of poultry meat processing and related microbial safety concerns, including "worker health, hygiene, and training", "scalding and chilling water", "sanitizing and cleaning", "microbial contamination", and "poultry wastewater treatments". The survey will also include questions about their current post-harvest practices, concerns regarding the methods currently employed, major considerations and barriers when deciding whether to adopt a new procedure such as MPPU, perceptions of microbial contamination, and information to determine interest in future poultry safety workshops. At WSU, a survey study is being carried out on meat vendors and shoppers at local farmers markets in Southeastern Michigan to understand their food safety practices and perception of food preservation by non-antibiotic alternatives. We anticipate that at least a hundred participants will complete the survey during the summer of 2024. Two graduate students are participating in the research. To achieve objective 5, the data will be used to guide the development of educational materials to train small poultry and meat vendors and processors. Obj. 4- we evaluated consumers' perceptions of meat and poultry safety at Kentucky farmers' markets. A face-to-face survey was conducted with 313 consumers at 12 farmers' markets spread across Kentucky. The results revealed several compelling reasons why shoppers are inclined to purchase meat and poultry at farmers' markets rather than supermarkets. Product freshness is one key factor, with a substantial 74.3% of respondents valuing the freshness of meat and poultry products available at farmers' markets. This emphasis on freshness aligns with the perception that products sourced directly from local farmers are often harvested or produced more recently, ensuring higher quality and taste. The reasons that limit consumers' meat and poultry purchases at farmers' markets are varied and can provide valuable insights into consumer behavior and preferences. Among the respondents, the most commonly cited reason for limiting purchases was price, with 41.3% of respondents indicating that cost was a factor. This suggests that affordability plays a significant role in consumer decisions when it comes to buying meat and poultry at farmers' markets, highlighting the importance of competitive pricing strategies or the need for initiatives to address price concerns. When asked about the specific pathogenic bacteria linked with raw poultry, only 20.2% of respondents correctly identified Campylobacter. The results also revealed that nearly 78% of participants agreed or strongly agreed that meat and poultry products at farmers' markets are safe. However, only 47.9% believed that locally produced meat and poultry are safer than conventional options at commercial supermarkets. Consumer opinions on pathogenic bacteria presence on poultry at farmers' markets were divided, with 33.1% agreeing and 34.4% disagreeing. Half of the participants support government regulation of meat and poultry products at Kentucky farmers' markets, while 21% do not. These findings can assist stakeholders in determining effective food safety interventions for enhancing the safety of meat and poultry products at farmers' markets. The results of this study will be presented in the IAFP 2024 Annual Meeting, July 14-17, Long Beach, CA. A manuscript of the results is under preparation and will be submitted to the journal of Food Control. Obj. 5- educational materials for controlling Campylobacter and Salmonella in raw poultry are currently under development. The educational materials will be used for training and distribution at farmers markets to increase knowledge regarding food safety for meats and poultry. We are anticipating developing six training modules that focus on controlling Salmonella and Campylobacter in raw poultry and controlling STEC (shiga toxin-producing E. coli strains) in raw ground beef. The educational materials will help meat and poultry establishments, including those that are small and very small, identify and implement pre- and post-harvest interventions to control pathogenic bacteria as part of their HACCP system. Each training module will have specific learning objectives to highlight some of the important points of each module and to guide participants' learning as they progress through the modules. In addition, the stakeholders of the West Virginia Farmers Market Association have been asking for input from Dr. Shen's team, the Co-PD, regarding their rental contract for the MPPU units. This contract specifies the requirements for post-processing cleaning and sanitization procedures.

Publications

  • Type: Books Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Cangliang Shen and Lisa Jones. 2023. Microbial Safety Handbook of Mobile Poultry Processing of Broiler Carcasses. WV Extension Services-Small Farm Conference Center and WV Farmers Market Association.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Khouryieh, H. 2024. Impact of High Pressure Processing on the Safety and Quality of Food Products: A Review. Recent Advances in Food, Nutrition, and Agriculture.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Khouryieh, H. 2023. Evaluation of Knowledge Gained from Food Safety and Good Agricultural Practices Educational Material for Kentucky Growers. 2023 Annual Meeting of International Association of Food Protection, July 16-19, Toronto, Canada.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Cangliang Shen, and Thomas Alter. Novel Approaches to Reduce Campylobacter at Poultry Slaughter and Processing in Europe and North America- 2nd section title Research Updates for controlling of Campylobacter on Poultry Products for S33-Symposium Campylobacter-Associated Food Safety, 2023 Annual Meeting of International Association of Food Protection. July 16-19, Toronto, Canada.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Massey, S., Flinchum, R., Khouryieh, H. & Silva, L. 2024. Effect Xanthan-Locust Bean Gum Mixtures on the Physicochemical, Texture, and Sensory Properties of Low Fat Sausage. AMSA Reciprocal Meat Conference (RMC), June 16 -19, 2024, Oklahoma City, OK.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2024 Citation: Massey, S., Flinchum, R., Khouryieh, H. & Silva, L. 2024. Physicochemical and Sensory Characteristics of Low Fat Sausage Formulated with Xanthan - Locust Bean Gum Mixtures. 54th Annual Student Scholar Showcase, April 6, 2024, Bowling Green, KY.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Chhabra, A., Flinchum, R., Maloney, S., Massey, S., Conge, E., Silva, L., & Khouryieh, J. Sensory Characteristics of Low Fat Sausage Formulated with Xanthan-Locust Bean Gum Mixtures. Kentucky Academy of Science Annual Meeting, November 3-4, Highland Heights, KY.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Flinchum, R., Chhabra, A., Maloney, S., Massey, S., Conge, E., Silva, L., & Khouryieh, J. Effect of Partial Replacement of Fat with Xanthan-locust Bean Gum Mixtures on the Texture of Low-fat Sausage. Kentucky Academy of Science Annual Meeting, November 3-4, Highland Heights, KY.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Other Year Published: 2023 Citation: Hanna Khouryieh. 2024. Careers in food science. Presented to Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science high school students, October 11, 2024, Bowling Green, KY.


Progress 07/01/22 to 06/30/23

Outputs
Target Audience:We have reached undergraduate and graduate students of agriculture and food science at WKU, WVU, and WSU.We also have reached to high school students in Kentucky. We have reached meat and poultry consumers, and meat and poultry vendors from the states of Kentucky, West Virginia, and Michigan. Changes/Problems:Due to the delay in setting up the subaward account by WVU-OSP, the advancement of the grant activities experienced an impact. Nevertheless, we exerted our utmost efforts to make up for the lost time. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?At WKU, we have provided training, mentoring, and financial support for two graduate students, five undergraduate students, and three high school students. The students helped in conducting literature review and in the development of the questionnaires and are currently administering them at farmers' markets. Dr. Khouryieh and Co-PI Dr. Silva conducted an eight-week summer research training in food science for two undergraduate students and three high school students (3 females and 2 males). The primary objective of the student summer research training was to foster students' research interest in the emphasis areas and to encourage students to pursue advanced degrees in agriculture and food sciences. The students had hands-on experience in conducting research and gained food science knowledge and skills while earning academic credits for their learning. Training activities included making research plans, completing supervised research experiments, data collection, statistical analysis, and contributing to conference abstracts. Dr. Khouryieh provided educational workshop about Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Point (HACCP) for small meat and poultry vendors. At WVU, Co-PD (Dr. Shen) provided training, mentoring, and financial support for one PhD student. Dr. Shen gave two remote training short courses for improving microbial safety of WV local small poultry producers using mobile poultry processing facility. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We have conducted a HACCP training workshop for KY small meat and poultry vendors. Some of the research results have been disseminated at the Kentucky Academy of Science Conference in November 2022. The surveys' results will be disseminated at International Association of Food Protection and Institute of Food Technologies conferences on July 2024. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We will continue administering the surveys at farmers markets. Once the data collection is complete, we will analyze the surveys data and disseminate the results at reginal and national conferences. We will conduct research to isolate and identify bacteriophages and test their efficacy by an electrostatic sprayer on chicken meat. We will conduct summer research training in food science for undergraduate students and high school students. We will conduct HACCP workshops targeting small farm vendors of meat and poultry. The main purpose of these workshops is to educate small meat and poultry farmers and other stakeholders on the use of food safety practices to minimize microbial food safety hazards. By participating in the workshop trainings, small meat and poultry processor, farmers' markets vendors, Extension agents, educator and other stakeholder groups in the food industry will be provided the appropriate resources and information to aid in implementing HACCP program.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? For objective one, we have created a three-credit course in food safety. The food safety course was taught by Dr. Khouryieh at Western Kentucky University (WKU) with 25 students enrolled in it. PD Drs Shen and Zhang published a second edition of food microbiology lab textbook with Publisher Springer-Nature. This lab-based textbook will not only be used as a major textbook for training undergraduate and graduate students at WKU, WVU and WSU, but also will establish a foundation for the PDs' team for further writing a new general microbiology textbook for food science and human nutrition students. Co-PD Dr. Shen will contact Springer-Nature Publisher this summer to submit this book proposal. To provide students and faculty of agriculture at WKU with suitable and modern equipment that involves them in work essential for food and agricultural sciences education and research programs, Dr. Khouryieh has purchased instructional and laboratory equipment, including a texture analyzer to evaluate the quality properties of food and food products such as meat tenderness. Dr. Khouryieh and Dr. Silva have conducted an eight week summer research experience for high school and undergraduate students at WKU. Three high school students (two males and one female) from the Gatton Academy of Science and two undergraduate students (two females) from the Department of Agriculture and Food Science at WKU were participated in the summer research training. The primary purpose of the student summer research training was to foster students' research interest in food science and to encourage students to pursue advanced degrees in agriculture and food sciences. The students gained hands-on experience and conducted food science research that engaged them in making research plans, conducting literature reviews, completing supervised research experiments, collecting and analyzing data, and contributing to conference abstracts and peer-reviewed journal manuscripts in a scientific manner. For objective 2, due to the delay in setting up the subaward account by WVU-OSP, the progress of the grant activities was affected. Mr. Corey Coe was recruited as a PhD student in Division of Animal & Nutritional Sciences at WVU and he is conducting the outreach survey work for WV Farmers Market Poultry Meat Vendors. He will conduct research to isolate and identify bacteriophages and test their efficacy by an electrostatic sprayer on chicken meat. For objective three, we have created a questionnaire to determine knowledge and food safety practices among small poultry and meat processors and vendors. The questionnaire consisted of four main sections: 1) demographic questions included the gender of the respondent, size of his/her farm, vendor profile, and types of meat and poultry grown and methods of sale, 2) questions measuring requirements and current farming practices will focus on the requirements set by meat and poultry buyers and distributors, employee training, and transportation logistics, 3) questions focus on future participation and interests, and these will probe the respondents' interest in meat and poultry workshops and other educational methods for food safety on the farm, and 4) space for small poultry and meat vendors and processors to elaborate on their perception or experience with phage technology and Food Safety Plan/Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points(HACCP), and more specifically, their perceived drivers and barriers for adoption. The survey was approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of WKU and WVU. The questionnaire was pre-tested at one farmers' market in each state. The questionnaire was also distributed to selected industry professionals, extension agents, and academic faculty for review and comment.One graduate student from the Department of Agriculture and Food Science at WKU was recruited to administer the survey at Kentucky farmers markets meat and poultry vendors. One graduate student from WVU was recruited to administer the survey at WV farmers market poultry meat vendors. For objective four, we have created a questionnaire to assess consumer perceptions of locally processed meat and poultry that sold at farmers' markets. Section one of the survey focused on purchasing habits, pathogens on poultry products, and knowledge on current pathogen control strategies. Section two contained questions about perceptions of food safety risks in poultry products and consumers' attitudes toward meat and poultry products sold at farmers' markets. The last section of the questionnaire contained questions about the socio-demographic information of the respondents. The survey was approved by the IRB committee at WKU. The questionnaire was pre-tested at one farmers' market in each state. The questionnaire was also distributed to selected industry professionals, extension agents, and academic faculty for review and comment to ensure the survey is clear, fair, and informative. The feedback from the pretesting study was incorporated. One graduate from WKU was recruited to administer the survey at Kentucky farmers markets. For objective five, PD Dr. Khouryieh conducted an educational workshop about Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Point (HACCP) for small meat and poultry at WKU. Co-PD Dr. Shen gave two remote training short courses for improving microbial safety of WV local small poultry producers using mobile poultry processing facility.

Publications

  • Type: Books Status: Published Year Published: 2023 Citation: Cangliang Shen and Yifan Zhang. Food Microbiology Laboratory for the Food Science Student: A Practical Approach Second Edition. 2023. Springer. ISBN 978-3-031-26196-1.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Hanna Khouryieh. 2023. Perceptions of non-thermal food processing technologies used by the food industry. Kentucky Academy of Science Annual Meeting, November 11-12, Morehead, Kentucky.