Technologies and Mechanisms for Safety Control of Ready-to-eat Muscle Foods: An Updated Review

Abstract

Ready-to-eat (RTE) muscle foods refer to a general category of meat and poultry products that are fully cooked and consumable without reheating. These products, including whole and sliced pork, beef, turkey, chicken, and variety of meats, in the forms of ham, roast, rolls, sausage, and frankfurter, are widely available in the delicatessen section of retail stores or various food service outlets. However, difficulties in avoidance of contamination by foodborne pathogens, notably Listeria monocytogenes, during product postlethality repackaging render RTE meats labile to outbreaks. Accordingly, the USDA-FSIS has established processing guidelines and regulations, which are constantly updated, to minimize foodborne pathogens in RTE products. Technologies that complement good manufacturing practice have been developed to control RTE meat safety. Among them, various antimicrobial product formulations, postpackaging pasteurization (thermal and nonthermal), and antimicrobial packaging are being used. Through these efforts, outbreaks linked to RTE meat consumption have substantially reduced in recent years. However, the pervasive and virulent nature of L. monocytogenes and the possible presence of other cold-tolerant pathogens entail continuing developments of new intervention technologies. This review updates existing and emerging physical and chemical methods and their mode of action to inactivate or inhibit threatening microorganisms in RTE muscle foods.

Fabrication and physicochemical and antibacterial properties of ethyl cellulose‐structured cinnamon oil oleogel: relation between ethyl cellulose viscosity and oleogel performance

“…Edible packaging is also a good carrier for antimicrobial agents that may be contained in the layer. Active packaging with antimicrobials imbedded in or coated on the film or package sheet is an emerging and attractive technology for the control of pathogen growth in meat products, given that microbial contamination is most likely on the meat product surface . Moreover, antimicrobial‐containing film and coating avoid the risks of potentially negative interaction with the food components and can provide longer preservation compared with the conventional addition of antimicrobials directly into food .…”

Postharvest intervention technologies for safety enhancement of meat and meat based products; a critical review

“…Food safety objectives (FSO) and hazard analysis and critical control point (HACCP) systems are being introduced and implemented worldwide to ensure the safety of meat based products. The European Union (EU) is now forcing authorities to implement extensive hygienic legislation as well as the established microbiological criteria (Jiang and Xiong 2014) into effect to control the incidence of food borne illnesses. Despite prodigious research efforts and investments, only few alternative preservation methods have been developed and implemented by the food industries worldwide.…”

Utilization of Buffered Vinegar to Inhibit the Growth of Listeria monocytogenes on Marinated and Cooked Chicken Breast

“…In theory, the 0.8% DV should have contained more acetic acid than the 0.6% DV and 1.5% LV treatments. Since muscle pH was not changed between treatments, there may have been greater concentrations of the undissociated form of acetic acid in treatments with higher concentrations of the buffered vinegar, even though minimal differences existed in acetic acid concentration among 0.6 and 0.8% DV and 1.5% LV treatments (Jiang and Xiong, 2015;Alvarado and McKee, 2007). The final concentrations of DV and LV in the cooked chicken were calculated as 0.23, 0.54, and 0.57% DV for the 0.4, 0.6, and 0.8% DV treatments and 1.13% LV for the 1.5% LV treatment since the buffered dry vinegar contains 74.15% acetic acid and the buffered liquid vinegar contains 31.75% acetic acid.…”

“…L. monocytogenes contamination commonly results from exposing the finished product to the pathogen after thermal processing and prior to consumption. Cured or cooked RTE meat products, such as frankfurters and deli luncheon meat and poultry items are commonly consumed without additional heat treatment, which may lead to a serious health risk in the event of post-lethality contamination with L. monocytogenes (Samelis et al, 2001;Jiang and Xiong, 2015). As an attempt to lower the frequency of microbial spoilage and recontamination, RTE food processors commonly use antimicrobials, including organic acids.…”