Food to Table

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Overview of Post-Harvest Food Safety in ARS
James A. Lindsay National Program Staff USDA -
Agricultural Research Service www.nps.ars.usda.go
v/appvs/foodsafety
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ARS Food Safety Research Budget 2001 (M)

• Pre-Harvest 53.71
• Post-Harvest 37.36
• Pathogen Control 48.17
• Detection Methods 17.47
• Hand/Distr/Stor 11.91
• Risk Assessment 6.54
• Antibiotics 5.33
• Antimicrobials 1.65

• 271 scientists
• 112 projects coded to NP108
• 83 100 coded
• 31 Post Harvest
• Pathogen Reduction 64.57
• Mycotoxins 17.72
• Residues 5.17
• Poisonous Plants 3.61

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ARS Food Safety Research Budget 1986 - 2001
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Goals and Specific Projects Within
Post-Harvest Food Safety Program

• Develop methods for regulatory, industry and
  research use
• Elucidate ecology of pathogens on foods and
  within the processing environment
• Develop intervention strategies, processing and
  control technologies to aid regulatory agencies
  in establishing the basis in regulation for HACCP
• Evaluate effect of intervention strategies in
  foods and on microorganisms
• Provide data to carry out risk assessment
  develop predictive microbial models and identify
  areas where interventions are most critical.

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Impact of Food Safety Program

• Means to ensure food supply is safe for
  consumers meets foreign, domestic regulatory
  requirements
• More secure and competitive food production
  systems
• Develop effective handling practices /treatments
  for fresh and minimally processed foods,
  maintenance beneficial attributes
• Provide scientific information for guidance/HACCP
  programs that effectively control pathogens
• Decrease risk of food-borne illness, enhancing
  public confidence

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Projects Within Post-Harvest Food Safety
Program (indirectly/directly)? Addressing
New Performance Standards for the Production
of Processed Meat and Poultry Products
Annual Reports of All Projects in Food Safety
Program Available at www.ars.usda.gov, on
disc, and in bound form
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Pathogen Reduction Research Budget 1995
2001
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Indirectly Assist Develop Methods for
Regulatory, Industry and Research Use

• Biosensors processes for detecting pathogenic
  bacteria in foods (Shu-I Tu)
• New technology and systems to detect and prevent
  microbial food contaminants (Purdue)
• Stress responses and virulence expression of
  bacterial pathogens in food environments
  (Fratamico)

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Indirectly Assist Ecology of Pathogens on Foods
and Within the Processing Environment

• Reduction and control of pathogens associated
  with food processing surfaces (Arnold)
• Adhesion and control of pathogens to and on
  surfaces poultry and produce (Mandrell)
• Effects of processing treatments on safety and
  quality of raw and cooked poultry products
  (Lyon)
• New technologies for decontamination of fresh
  fruit and vegetables containing human pathogens
  (Sapers and Fett)

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Directly Assist Through Development of
Intervention and processing Strategies,
Microbial Modeling Within ARS

• Improve microbiological safety and shelf life of
  food by treatment with ionizing radiation
  (Thayer)
• provided significant data on irradiation to
  regulatory agencies
• hot-dogs and L. monocytogenes
• 5 log reduction of Lm achieved with 3.6 kGy
• Lm sensitivity vs product formulation an issue

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Directly Assist Through Development of
Intervention and Processing Strategies,
Microbial Modeling Within ARS

• Development of Intervention Processes to Enhance
  the Microbiological Safety of Heat Sensitive
  Foods (Kozempel)
• hot-dogs and L. innocua
• VSV surface pasteurization 0.3 sec at 138C/3-4
  cycles achieved a 5 log reduction, visually
  unchanged

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Directly Assist Through Development of
Intervention and Processing Strategies,
Microbial Modeling Within ARS

• Assurance of Microbiological safety of Thermally
  Processed Foods (Juneja)
• provided significant amount of data used in
  development of performance standards
• assessed effects and interactions of of
  temperature, pH, salts, fat on inactivation of E.
  coli O157H7, L. monocytogenes and S. typhimurium
  DT104
• established safe cooling rates for cured beef,
  chicken and pork, defining time/temperature to
  control C. perfringens

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Directly Assist Through Development of
Intervention and Processing Strategies,
Microbial Modeling Within ARS

• New Technologies to improve and Assess Food
  Safety in Muscle Foods (Solomon and Berry)
• previous work on beef patty color and safety
• future studies directed towards using shock waves
  generated by hydrodynamic pressure as an
  intervention strategy

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Directly Assist Through Development of
Intervention and Processing Strategies,
Microbial Modeling Within ARS

• L. monocytogenes and frankfurters hot-dog study
  (Luchansky)
• Pathogen Modeling Program (Tamplin)

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Cooperative Research - National Alliance Food
Safety

• Dose-response of infection following intragastric
  inoculation of L. monocytogenes in RTE products
  (U. Wisconsin)
• Identification of novel virulence markers in food
  isolates on L. monocytogenes for rationale design
  of detection strategies (North Carolina State)
• Irradiation and packaging treatments for
  controlling L. monocytogenes and improving
  sensory acceptability of RTE turkey roll (Iowa
  State)
• Eliminating L. monocytogenes from packaged RTE
  poultry products (U. Arkansas)
• Comparison of L. monocytogenes virulence in a
  mouse model for use in risk assessment (CFS - U.
  Georgia)

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Other Cooperative Research

• Institute Food Research, Norwich,UK on pathogen
  modeling
• Universities and Institutions within the EU
• Listeria genomics with TIGR

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Summary

• ARS has made significant efforts to address
  issues for FSIS
• Agency will continue to provide as much data as
  possible to FSIS on L. monocytogenes, Salmonella
  and other pathogens for establishing in
  regulation food safety performance standards for
  ready-to-eat foods