Low water activity (aw) and dried foods such as dried dairy and
meat products, grain-based and dried ready-to-eat cereal products,
powdered infant formula, peanut and nut pastes, as well as flours
and meals have increasingly been associated with product recalls
and foodborne outbreaks due to contamination by pathogens such as
Salmonella spp. and enterohemorrhagic E. coli. In particular,
recent foodborne outbreaks and product recalls related to
Salmonella-contaminated spices have raised the level of public
health concern for spices as agents of foodborne illnesses.
Presently, most spices are grown outside the U.S., mainly in 8
countries: India, Indonesia, China, Brazil, Peru, Madagascar,
Mexico and Vietnam. Many of these countries are under-developed and
spices are harvested and stored with little heed to sanitation. The
FDA has regulatory oversight of spices in the United States;
however, the agency's control is largely limited to enforcing
regulatory compliance through sampling and testing only after
imported foodstuffs have crossed the U.S. border. Unfortunately,
statistical sampling plans are inefficient tools for ensuring total
food safety. As a result, the development and use of
decontamination treatments is key. This book provides an
understanding of the microbial challenges to the safety of low aw
foods, and a historic backdrop to the paradigm shift now
highlighting low aw foods as vehicles for foodborne pathogens.
Up-to-date facts and figures of foodborne illness outbreaks and
product recalls are included. Special attention is given to the
uncanny ability of Salmonella to persist under dry conditions in
food processing plants and foods. A section is dedicated
specifically to processing plant investigations, providing
practical approaches to determining sources of persistent bacterial
strains in the industrial food processing environment. Readers are
guided through dry cleaning, wet cleaning and alternatives to
processing plant hygiene and sanitation. Separate chapters are
devoted to low aw food commodities of interest including spices,
dried dairy-based products, low aw meat products, dried
ready-to-eat cereal products, powdered infant formula, nuts and nut
pastes, flours and meals, chocolate and confectionary, dried teas
and herbs, and pet foods. The book provides regulatory testing
guidelines and recommendations as well as guidance through
methodological and sampling challenges to testing spices and low aw
foods for the presence of foodborne pathogens. Chapters also
address decontamination processes for low aw foods, including heat,
steam, irradiation, microwave, and alternative energy-based
treatments.
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