A natural line of defence

 

 

 

 

 

 

From http://www.canadianmanufacturing.com

 

The food industry has long known that in all areas of food consumption, Canadians favour more natural products – but that they also want those products to be safe. Combining these two demands, a new crop of naturally derived substances and methods is springing up across the food industry. Ancient antimicrobials such as vinegar are receiving serious makeovers, but new and natural cutting-edge approaches are also furiously being examined for their possible food safety, stability and preservation potential.

 

“Manufacturers are seeking label-friendly alternatives that are backed by science,” says Courtney Schwartz, Marketing Communications specialist at the Iowa-based ingredient-maker Kemin Industries. “Microbial safety is of concern to many food market segments, but particularly deli meat manufacturers are looking for solutions to improve their food safety program against Listeria monocytogenes (Lm) contamination.” Kemin offers BactoCEASE NV, a buffered vinegar product with an optimized flavour profile that ensures enhanced product food safety with minimal sensory impact, specifically in processed and ready-to-eat meats. It’s currently in the consumer-testing phase.

 

Phage technology

Another natural approach to meat preservation is a revolutionary packaging technology involving harmless viruses that can kill dangerous bacteria. Such viruses – known as bacteriophages or phages – have been used with some success in Russia and Eastern Europe for more than six decades. Scientists with the Sentinel Bioactive Paper Network based in Hamilton, Ont. have developed a system where phages are sprayed on packaging paper and attack pathogens such Listeria that can lurk on the surface of meat.

 

After they attach and enter a bacterial cell, phages take over the genetic machinery to produce new copies of themselves. Once a critical mass of phages is reached, they synthesize enzymes that dissolve the bacteria’s cell wall. The technology works on refrigerated meat, as well as on meat in modified-atmosphere and vacuum-packs. “We have demonstrated that phages attached to cellulose paper are still active after nine months,” explains Dr. Mansel Griffiths, director of the Canadian Research Institute for Food Safety at Ontario’s University of Guelph, and a Sentinel researcher.

 

However, the technology is not yet ready for commercial use. In studies published by Griffiths and his colleagues so far, it took 12 days at 4˚C to eliminate 100 E. coli O157:H7 cells/gram in raw, whole beef pieces. Griffiths acknowledges that under these storage conditions, the beef would have been spoiled in four to six days. In their trials involving control of Lm on oven-roasted turkey breast, the Sentinel scientists found that after about three to six days in most treatments, Lm recovered from phage attack and their numbers began to climb slowly. In other words, the phages initially reduced Lm growth but did not prevent it over 15 days at 4˚C – and many lunchmeats have a 30 to 60 day shelf life at 4˚C. There are also questions about the product’s limitation to just attack pathogens on the surface, and that pathogens could also eventually develop resistance to phages. Griffiths says the latter can be overcome by using a battery of different phages.

 

Natural sources

Naturally occurring “good” bacteria can also be added to food to prevent the growth of dangerous bacteria. One such commercial product is Micocin, produced by Toronto, Ont.-based Micocin Worldwide. It was approved by Health Canada last year (and is also approved in the U.S. and Mexico) to provide targeted protection against Lm in vacuum-packed wieners and some sliced meats. With wieners and sausages, a small amount of liquid solution is injected into the package, and in sliced products, the solution is sprayed over each slice face during slicing.

 

Claims: 
The copyrights of articles in the website belong to authors. Please inform us if there is any violation of intellectual property and we will delete the articles immediately.