- Salmonella has been implicated in outbreaks and/or recalls in numerous low-moisture foods and ingredients, including almonds,
pistachios, peanut products,
hazelnuts, pecans, pet food, cake batter mix, and other dry ingredients, including soy products, black pepper, and dried hydrolyzed vegetable protein
(HVP).
- Hygiene and sanitation practices are insufficient
to alone ensure product safety; therefore, processing interventions are an
emerging imperative to reduce the risk of Salmonella in low-moisture
products.
- Food Safety Modernization Act
(FSMA) Preventive Controls rules will mandate that the food industry implement
and validate interventions to prevent or control identified hazards, such as Salmonella
in low-moisture products.
- No single technology will provide
a universal solution acceptable for all types of low-moisture products or
processors.
- There is
an entire category of currently-operating “legacy technologies” that were not
designed as “kill steps” (e.g., roasting, baking, and drying), but which now
must be validated for this purpose (including appropriate controls and
monitoring systems)
- Although general guidance about controlling Salmonella in low-moisture products and validating thermal
processes is available, prior reports do
not address specific challenges associated with technology selection, technology
improvement, or application of product- or process-specific inactivation data
or models.
This proposed project is aimed at
meeting this critical and urgent need via highly integrated and collaborative
research, training, and education activities focused on improving the
development and implementation of pasteurization technologies for low-moisture
products.
Overall GoalTo enhance the development, improvement, and
commercial adoption of pasteurization technologies for low-moisture foods,
considering efficacy, product quality, regulatory requirements, energy use, and
suitability for the target end-users.
Specific Objectives
- Develop
standardized protocols for
evaluation/validation of low-moisture pasteurization technologies (e.g.,
mapping temperature distributions, quantifying process variability, and
selecting/preparing/utilizing a non-pathogenic surrogate).
- Conduct
an extensive battery of inoculated challenge
studies with representative products treated by multiple process
technologies (e.g., steam, radio-frequency, extrusion, drying, gas), including
pilot-scale trials in multiple Biosafety
Level-2(3) pilot plants, to quantify process characteristics (e.g.,
efficacy, variability) and to establish “safe harbors.”
- Develop
and evaluate improvements of key existing
thermal processes previously designed to achieve quality outcomes, but not
necessarily pasteurization outcomes (e.g., dryers, baking ovens, roasters), in
order to enable implementation of low-cost food safety solutions, particularly
for small and medium-sized processors.
- Develop,
implement, and assess multiple outreach, training, and service resources aimed
at technology developers, end-users, and validation professionals, including:
- A multi-criteria technology comparison tool.
- Sustainable professional training programs,
including annual workshops, webinars, and FSMA standardized curriculum modules.
- A multi-location “Validation Center”
that will provide long-term support (validations and on-site training) for
equipment companies and processors of low-moisture foods.
- Develop,
test, disseminate, and assess online,
graduate-level learning modules focused on low-moisture food safety,
pasteurization technologies, and process validation methodologies.
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