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Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only Publication Acceptance Date: 8/10/2006 Publication Date: 8/10/2006 Citation: Juneja, V.K. 2006. Thermal inactivation of foodborne pathogens and the usda pathogen modeling program. Meeting abstract. Vol. 2 pages 1-10. Interpretive Summary: Technical Abstract: The use of heat to inactivate foodborne pathogens is a critical control point and the most common means of assuring the microbiological safety of processed foods. A key to optimization of the heating step is defining the target pathogens' heat resistance. Sufficient evidence exists to document that insufficient cooking, reheating and/or subsequent cooling are often contributing factors in food-poisoning outbreaks. Accordingly, the objectives of the studies were to determine the heat treatment required to achieve a specific lethality for foodborne pathogens in cooked ground beef, pork, turkey and chicken. The effects and interactions of temperature, pH, sodium chloride content, sodium pyrophosphate, and sodium lactate concentration are among the variables that were considered when attempting to assess the heat inactivation kinetics of Escherichia coli O157:H7, Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella spp.and spores of non-proteolytic Clostridium botulinum. Incorporation of these multiple barriers increased the sensitivity of pathogens to heat, thereby reducing heat requirements and ensuring the safety of ready-to-eat food products. Complex multifactorial experiments and analysis to quantify the effects and interactions of additional intrinsic and extrinsic factors and development of enhanced predictive models are underway to ensure the microbiological safety of thermally processed foods. Predictive inactivation kinetics (thermal death) models for foodborne pathogens have been converted into an easy-to-use computer program that is available on the USDA- Eastern Regional Research Center website. These models should aid in evaluating the safety of cooked products and are being used as building blocks for microbial risk assessment. |
