This review highlights the critical concern foreign material contamination poses across the food processing industry and provides information on methods and implementations to minimize the hazards caused by foreign materials. A foreign material is defined as any non-food, foreign bodies that may cause illness or injury to the consumer and are not typically part of the food. Foreign materials can enter the food processing plant as part of the raw materials such as fruit pits, bones, or contaminants like stones, insects, soil, grit, or pieces of harvesting equipment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe recent shift in the labor force that has occurred in many developed countries has been greater than any shift prior to 2020. This shift was caused by reduced birthrates coupled with the rising percentage of mature workers in the labor force, compounded by the 2020 global shut-down due to Covid-19. Managers and HR directors need to act now to gather the necessary data on their employees and their company's projected labor needs to accurately plan for their short- and long-term labor needs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSensory perception is understood to be a complex area of research that requires investigations from a variety of different perspectives. Although researchers have tried to better understand consumers' perception of food, one area that has been minimally explored is how psychological cognitive theories can help them explain consumer perceptions, behaviors, and decisions in food-related experiences. The concept of cognitive styles has existed for nearly a century, with the majority of cognitive style theories existing along a continuum with two bookends.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRice supplies about 20% of the calories to the world's consumers. Milling removes the outer husk and bran, breaking about 20% of the rice kernels during the milling process that equates to almost 100,000,000 tons of rice annually. Broken rice is discounted in price by almost half or relegated to non-human consumption.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPet foods are a vital component of the global food industry. Pet food's success depends on its acceptance by both consumers (the pets) and purchasers (the pet owners). Palatability tests using panels of both trained and untrained pets are often used to measure the preference and acceptability of pet foods.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe detection, enumeration, and virulence potential of viable but non-culturable (VBNC) pathogens continues to be a topic of discussion. While there is a lack of definitive evidence that VBNC (Lm) pose a public health risk, recent studies suggest that Lm in its VBNC state remains virulent. VBNC bacteria cannot be enumerated by traditional plating methods, so the results from routine Lm testing may not demonstrate a sample's true hazard to public health.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe soilborne pathogen Listeria monocytogenes frequently contaminates food products and food processing environments and is able to survive desiccation, high osmotic pressures, and starvation. However, little is known about how this pathogen survives starvation at 4°C. This study provides evidence that L.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn 2000, the Consumer Goods Forum established the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) to increase the safety of the world's food supply and to harmonize food safety regulations worldwide. In 2013, a university research team in conjunction with Diversey Consulting (Sealed Air), the Consumer Goods Forum, and officers of GFSI solicited input from more than 15,000 GFSI-certified food producers worldwide to determine whether GFSI certification had lived up to these expectations. A total of 828 usable questionnaires were analyzed, representing about 2,300 food manufacturing facilities and food suppliers in 21 countries, mainly across Western Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and North America.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn some animals, the typical body temperature can be higher than humans, for example, 42°C in poultry and 40°C in rabbits which can be a potential thermal stress challenge for pathogens. Even in animals with lower body temperatures, when infection occurs, the immune system may increase body temperature to reduce the chance of survival for pathogens. However, some pathogens can still easily overcome higher body temperatures and/or rise in body temperatures through expression of stress response mechanisms.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study aimed to determine individual and combined effects of smoking and marination on the sensory characteristics of boneless, skinless chicken breast meat. Four types of cooked, cold-cut chicken breast meat, i.e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Handwashing (HW) compliance, although an effective means of limiting childhood illness, remains low among personnel in early childhood centers (ECCs). Our study determined HW compliance and efficacy of ECC personnel.
Methods: Surveillance cameras were used to determine HW opportunities, compliance, occurrences, and effectiveness based on child-care oriented criteria.
The causative agent of White-nose Syndrome (WNS), Pseudogymnoascus destructans, has been shown to be fatal to several species of bats in North America. To date, no compounds or chemical control measures have been developed which eliminates the growth of the fungus in the environment or in affected animals. In the current study, we evaluated the activity of cold-pressed, terpeneless orange oil (CPT) against multiple isolates of P.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFLack of hand washing is a leading cause of food borne illnesses. To successfully increase hand hygiene compliance, interventions must have continual engagement with employees. This study used a real-time prospective memory (PM) scenario to measure the effectiveness of a control and sensory reminders of disgust to influence hand washing behavior and performance.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe antimicrobial activity of essential oils and their components has been recognized for several years. Essential oils are produced as secondary metabolites by many plants and can be distilled from all different portions of plants. The recent emergence of bacteria resistant to multiple antibiotics has spurred research into the use of essential oils as alternatives.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnlabelled: Ready-to-eat luncheon meats sliced in retail delis have been found to pose the greatest risk of foodborne illness from Listeria monocytogenes among all ready-to-eat foods. Slicers used in delis have many removable parts that are connected with seals and gaskets, with spaces, cracks and crevices that are difficult to clean adequately and may provide a niche for L. monocytogenes survival.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAntimicrobial agents are added to poultry products after slaughter to prevent the growth of pathogenic and spoilage microorganisms and to extend the shelf-life of these products. Antimicrobials can be either natural or chemical, which may affect the sensory attributes at elevated concentrations, such as surface color, odor, flavor, taste, and texture of the poultry products. Thus, when selecting antimicrobials for use in poultry processing, it is vital to consider the antimicrobial-induced changes in sensory aspects from the consumers' perspectives.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSweetgum trees are large, deciduous trees found in Asia and North America. Sweetgum trees are important resources for medicinal and other beneficial compounds. Many of the medicinal properties of sweetgum are derived from the resinous sap that exudes when the outer bark of the tree has been damaged.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDried plums (prunes) have been marketed to consumers for consumption directly from the package as a convenient snack and have been reported to have broad health benefits. Only recently have fractionated, dried plum ingredients been investigated for their functionality in food and feed products. Dried plum puree, dried plum fiber, dried plum powder, dried plum concentrate, and fresh plum concentrate have been investigated to date.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCondensed smoke or liquid smoke (LS) and lauric arginate (LAE) are antimicrobials used in food preservation. They have demonstrated abilities to reduce or inhibit pathogenic and spoilage organisms. Few studies, however, have reported on the effectiveness of LS or LAE over the range of temperatures typically encountered in food marketing channels.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe smoking of foods, especially meats, has been used as a preservation technique for centuries. Today, smoking methods often involve the use of wood smoke condensates, commonly known as liquid smoke. Liquid smoke is produced by condensing wood smoke created by the pyrolysis of sawdust or wood chips followed by removal of the carcinogenic polyaromatic hydrocarbons.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMethionine is the first limiting amino acid in poultry feed. Currently, methionine supplement is synthesized from an expensive chemical process requiring hazardous chemicals. Therefore, the objectives of this study were isolation of methionine producing bacteria from environmental samples and quantification of methionine production in these isolated bacteria.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGrowers and processors of USDA certified organic foods are in need of suitable organic antimicrobials. The purpose of the research reported here was to develop and test natural antimicrobials derived from an all-natural by-product, organic pecan shells. Unroasted and roasted organic pecan shells were subjected to solvent free extraction to produce antimicrobials that were tested against Listeria spp.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA growing niche in the locally grown food movement is the small-scale production of broiler chickens using the pasture-raised poultry production model. Limited research exists that focuses on Salmonella and Campylobacter contamination in the environment associated with on-farm processing of pasture-raised broilers. The objective of this study was to establish data relative to Salmonella and Campylobacter prevalence and concentration in soil and mortality compost resulting from prior processing waste disposal in the small-scale, on-farm broiler processing environment.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMethionine is one of the first limiting amino acids in poultry nutrition. The use of methionine-rich natural feed ingredients, such as soybean meal or rapeseed meal may lead to negative environmental consequences. Amino acid supplementation leads to reduced use of protein-rich ingredients.
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