Food Protection Trends - November 2008 - 816

further illustrates that there is “not a major body of information that deals with understanding or controlling foodborne illnesses.” Dr. Tauxe went on to describe the “Cycle of Continuous Improvement in Public Health,” consisting of continuous flow surveillance, problem identification, investigation, source identification, prevention measures, and targeted research. He provided examples of information sharing successes and highlighted the need for cooperation and information sharing between government agencies, the industry, and academia. Dr. Carl Custer, retired USDA-FSIS-OPHS, presented an overview of government agency interactions with regard to data sharing. He outlined two primary types of inter-agency communication: official and unofficial. He also stated that the primary challenge of data sharing in government agencies may be an overburden of information. He listed several agencies, programs, and resources currently in place to deal with foodborne disease information that utilize both official and unofficial interagency communication and cooperation. Timothy Biela, of the Texas American Food Service, followed with a summary of the position of the beef industry in regards to data sharing. He highlighted that the beef industry has taken a more proactive approach in recent years to address food safety in the beef sector in a non-competitive environment, and stressed the need to share data with suppliers, while standardizing information sharing across the industry regarding every step of the production process. Dr. Leon Gorris, with Unilever, spoke about the international perspective on data sharing and risk assessments. He highlighted the need for companies to share microbial methodologies in control standards, and build the ability to compare data affectively with other organizations. Dr. Gorris stated that companies have a wealth of knowledge, and suggested ways in which international companies could share as much of this data and information as possible. Dr. Robert Buchanan, of the University of Maryland, presented information regarding the types of data that should be shared between countries. He highlighted the two primary Codex Alimentarius texts, which are done on an audit basis every 3–5 years. He extended the perspective Dr. Gorris presented to focus on the types of data that could, and should, be shared between nations. Barbara Kowalcyk, with the Center for Foodborne Illness Research & Prevention, was the final scheduled speaker for this section. She highlighted that most consumers do not know to look for food recall information on the web. She also stated that America needs a science based, data driven approach to food safety, and that data sharing must be an effective part of this approach. S14 – Food Safety and regulatory Issues Associated with non-thermal Processing of Foods and Beverages Jessica Maitland, Virginia Tech and Arpan Bhagat, Purdue Dr. Christopher Sommers, USDA, began the session by presenting information on “Food Irradiation Research and Technology.” Since the 1905 patent, irradiation has been researched and developed for inhibition of maturation and disinfestations, food for astronauts, spices, raw poultry, raw red meat and potentially neutraceuticals. FDA has approved irradiation of meat, poultry, and non-molluscan shellfish after reviews of 29 long term feeding in animals and reproduction and teratology and genotoxicity studies. Henrich Iversen, Tetra Pak introduced the basics of microfiltration and bactofugation. Both these processes are only used on fluid products. Bactofugation works on the principle of density wherein light and heavy phases separate. 6000G force is used for removing bacteria and spores from skim milk with an efficiency of 70% and 98.7% respectively. Thus this process is mainly used for prolonging the shelf life for a couple of days and not for food safety. Microfiltration is based on pore size (1 µm) appropriate to remove bacteria (1–10 µm) and spores. However, unlike heat treatment there are no specific parameters to ensure the efficacy of filtration. Daniela Bermudez-Aguirre, Washington State University gave a presentation on Pulsed Electric Field (PEF) and Ultrasound processing. PEFs create electroporation through a charge accumulation in the cell wall which disrupts the cell wall as well as the nuclear membrane. Electroporation can be reversible (non-lethal) or not based on the size, shape and type of microorganisms. Ultrasound is through energy generated by sound waves by an assembly of power generator, transducers and sonotrode. The inactivation mechanism is cavitation which also releases cytoplasmic content. More experiments should be conducted with larger scale equipment in the future. However these technologies work better for spoilage organisms (yeast and molds) than pathogens. Dr. Murat O. Balaban, University of Alaska, created a presentation titled “High Pressure and High Pressure Carbon Dioxide Processing.” Using this technique food (vegetable products, RTE meats, juices and beverages) is pressurized up to 100000 Psig in a flexible package in a batch mode. Since there is no heat the freshness of the food is retained but some enzymes may be enhanced causing functional and textural problems. Dense phase CO2 is mixed with the product and then 816 FOOD PROTECTION TRENDS | NOVEMBER 2008

Food Protection Trends - November 2008

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Food Protection Trends - November 2008