Sanitation of Selected Ready-to-Eat Intermediate-Moisture Foods of Animal Origin by E-Beam Irradiation

Abstract

To optimize the sanitation treatment of ready-to-eat (RTE) intermediate-moisture foods (IMF), the behavior of Listeria monocytogenes Scott A (CIP 103575), L. innocua (NTC 11288), Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium (CECT 443), and Escherichia coli O157:H7 (CECT 4972) following treatment with electron-beam irradiation has been studied. As food matrixes, three RTE vacuum-packed products (Iberian dry-cured ham, dry beef [cecina], and smoked tuna) were used. Although an irradiation treatment is not necessary when the 10(2) colony-forming units/g microbiological criterion for L. monocytogenes is applied, a treatment of 1.5 kGy must be applied to IMFs to meet the food safety objective in the case of the "zero tolerance" criterion for the three strains. The IMF products presented negligible modifications of color (L*, a*, and b*), sensory (appearance, odor, and flavor), and rheology (hardness, springiness, adhesiveness, cohesiveness, gumminess, chewiness, and breaking strength) parameters at doses lower than 2 kGy. Therefore, the treatment of 1.5 kGy warrants safe IMF with sensory properties similar to those of the genuine products.

Use of E-Beam for Shelf-Life Extension and Sanitizing of Marinated Pork Loin

“…typhimurium [81]. Publications [37, 61, 82] have repeatedly confirmed that the resistance of S. typhimurium to irradiation is significantly higher than that of S . enteritidis , and the D -value for the former organism is in the level of 0.45–0.50 kGy.…”

“…However, reports show that E-beam treatments at doses lower than 3 kGy did not affect the textural features of several meat products, including turkey beast rolls [86], cooked ham [34], dry ham [87], and fermented sausages [35]. These opposed differences may occur because pork loin is a raw meat, whereas the former items are transformed meat products with a higher dry matter content and, therefore, they present a more robust texture that may be less sensitive to physical technologies, such as irradiation and light pulse [37, 88]. During storage, the only clear difference observed affected adhesiveness, which increased with a longer storage time ( P < 0.05), which is probably related with the formation of slime by the Gram-negative bacteria [69, 74].…”

“…resistance against E-beam radiation is similar to that of L. monocytogenes [37, 38], and it has been repeatedly demonstrated that E. coli O157:H7 is more radiosensitive than L. monocytogenes [31, 33, 37]. Therefore, the results obtained for the L. monocytogenes may also be extended to two other species with a high confidence range (95%) due to the psychrotrophic character of L. monocytogenes.…”

Effect of Gamma-radiation on Hygienic Quality, Amino Acids and Antioxidant Enzymes in v

“…The hydrolysis tubes were attached to a system, which allows the connection of nitrogen and vacuum lines without disturbing the sample. The tubes were placed in an oven at 110°C for 24h (Cambero et al, 2012). The tubes were then opened and the contents of each tube were filtered and evaporated until dryness in a rotary evaporator.…”

Control of Listeria monocytogenes in boned dry‐cured ham by E‐beam treatment

“…Electron beam (E‐beam) treatment is considered a process that can ensure that food safety standards are met without significant losses in food quality (Li & Farid, ; Pillai & Shayanfar, ; Roberts, ). Moreover, several authors have described its efficacy in reducing L. monocytogenes in various meat products, such as bologna, frankfurters, cooked pork and turkey ham (Foong, Gonzalez, & Dickson, ; Kudra et al, ), pork and beef loin (García‐Márquez, Cambero, Ordonez, & Cabeza, ; Yim, Jo, Kim, Seo, & Nam, ), duck meat (An et al, ; An, Jo, Akram, Suh, & Kwon, ), fermented sausages (Cabeza et al, ), and dry‐cured and cooked ham slices (Benedito et al, ; Cabeza et al, ; Cabeza et al, ; Cambero et al, ; Hoz, Cambero, Cabeza, Herrero, & Ordonez, ).…”