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ARS Home » Plains Area » College Station, Texas » Southern Plains Agricultural Research Center » Food and Feed Safety Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #161718
Title: CHLORATE SALTS AND OXIDIZED NITROGEN COMPOUNDS AS FEED SUPPLEMENTS; THEIR BACTERICIDAL EFFECTS ON FOODBORNE PATHOGENS AND APPLICATION IN PRE-HARVEST FOOD SAFETY

Author
item Anderson, Robin
item Jung, Yong Soo
item Byrd Ii, James - Allen
item Genovese, Kenneth - Ken
item Callaway, Todd
item Edrington, Thomas
item Harvey, Roger
item Nisbet, David

Submitted to: American Society of Animal Science Annual Meeting
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/1/2004
Publication Date: 7/25/2004
Citation: Anderson, R.C., Jung, Y., Byrd II, J.A., Genovese, K.J., Callaway, T.R., Edrington, T.S., Harvey, R.B., Nisbet, D.J. 2004. Novel preharvest strategies involving the use of inorganic and nitro-based compounds to prevent colonization of food producing animals by foodborne pathogens [abstract]. Journal of Animal Science. 82(Suppl. 1):81.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Foodborne diseases caused by enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli, Salmonella and Campylobacter are of public health and economic significance. Shedding of these pathogens during production and slaughter are critical risks for contamination of products for human consumption. Consequently, strategies are sought to prevent or reduce the carriage of these pathogens in food animals before slaughter. Experimental products containing chlorate salts have been proven efficacious in reducing, by several hundred-fold, concentrations of E. coli and Salmonella in the gut of cattle, sheep, swine and poultry when administered as feed or water additives. Mechanistically, chlorate selectively targets bacteria expressing respiratory nitrate reductase activity, such as most members of the family Enterobacteriaceae, as this enzyme catalyzes the reduction of chlorate to lethal chlorite. Research and development of the chlorate technology continues and a much improved product has been designed to increase passage of the active ion to the lower gut. More recently, select oxidized nitrogen compounds are being investigated as potential feed additives and while these nitrocompounds significantly reduce pathogens on their own, evidence indicates that they may most effectively be used to complement the bactericidal activity of chlorate. An attractive aspect of the nitrocompound technology is that as potent inhibitors of ruminal methanogenesis, they may allow producers the opportunity to recoup costs associated with their use. At present, neither chlorate nor the nitrocompounds have been approved as feed additives by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.