Research

This research will explore the concept of "internalized" Salmonella contamination in ground poultry components and the role of lymphoid tissue as harborage sites for this pathogen.

This research intends to develop a reliable and quantitative method that can measure the impact of interventions designed to reduce the carriage of Salmonella in peripheral lymph nodes of cattle.

Funded in part by The Beef Checkoff

The project is designed to provide a better understanding and address the lack of scientifically-supported tools available to the industry to define lethal cooking processes and establish validated regulatory compliance for different ready-to-eat meat products.  

This project will evaluate the effectiveness of partial dehairing from various solutions and mechanical scraping as a hide-on carcass intervention to reduce Salmonella and E. coli.

This project will demonstrate the sensitivity and specificity of droplet digital PCR as an enumeration assay for Salmonella enterica in pure culture and in mixed microflora cultures as well as inoculated ground beef of different fat contents

This research identified optimal methods to test for the presence of Salmonella spp. on the hides, carcasses and feces of cattle.

This project determined the antimicrobial activity of different levels of protamine, a natural antimicrobial, on Salmonella, E. coli and Listeria monocytogenes on meat and poultry before and after cooking.

This research provided a complete secondary model for log-D with temperature, fat content and moisture content as independent variables. It also expanded thermal inactivation parameters for Salmonella lethality models. The results led to improved user interface and functionality for the AMI Process Lethality Spreadsheet.

This study identified a non-pathogenic bacterium that has heat resistance properties similar to Listeria and Salmonella in meat and poultry. Research developed protocols for the use of a non-pathogenic surrogate organisms in processing facilities to validate thermal processing.