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 project conducted a national survey of temperatures of processed meat products at retail and upon arrival at home, after shopping. Data from this study was used in the FDA/USDA Risk Assessment for Listeria monocytogenes.

This study determined what were the most reliable methods for detection of Listeria spp. and Listeria monocytogenes in RTE products and if RTE meat products could be composited into analytical units greater than 25g as a means of reducing the labor and cost.