Rework is a common practice in the dairy industry as a way for processors to minimize waste while recovering costs for dairy products that are unsaleable. The regulations available for reworking fluid dairy products only outline product eligibility requirements with a focus on repasteurization of the products containing rework as...
Foodborne outbreaks involving fresh produce have been on the rise since the late 1990's. Pathogens such as Salmonella spp. and Escherichia coli are prevalent in agricultural environments and commonly travel between farms via irrigation water. The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) has placed an increased emphasis on microbiological standards of...
2020 and 2021 brought the first reported outbreaks of salmonellosis epidemiologically linked to dry bulb onions in the United States. Outbreak investigations were not able to implicate a specific source of the contamination but speculated that contaminated water was a significant contributor. The Produce Safety Rule established minimum standards for...
Pasteurization is an effective method of reducing risks associated with foodborne pathogens in raw milk. Cheese made from raw milk has a higher potential to harbor harmful bacterial pathogens. However, some cheesemakers prefer to use unpasteurized milk to preserve the natural microflora present in the raw milk and to prevent...
United States Department of Agriculture-Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA-FSIS) guidelines for beef jerky processing support producers' ability to satisfy the performance standard requirements for achieving a 5-log reduction in Salmonella and E. coli O157:H7. The first compliance guide for jerky processors was created in response to several Salmonella outbreaks...
Multiple outbreaks of foodborne illness (Salmonella and E. coli O157:H7) have been associated with tree nuts and tree nut products since the early 2000s. In response to these outbreaks and many others in fresh produce and peanut butter, Congress created and passed the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) to require...
Reports of foodborne outbreaks have increased in the last decade, posing a public health risk to consumers. In an attempt to mitigate this risk, the newly established Food Safety and Modernization Act (FSMA) takes a preventive rather than reactive approach to food safety. Under FSMA, producers are required to validate...
The production of Cheddar cheese is a complex process with multiple potential sources of undesirable bacteria, including those that have negative impacts on product quality (spoilage organisms) and those that are used to evaluate sanitary conditions in the production environment (indicator organisms). The dairy industry commonly uses coliform bacteria as...
Vibrio parahaemolyticus infections in the United Stated have been linked to consumption of raw shellfish, particularly oysters, with symptoms of headache, abdominal pain, nausea, diarrhea, vomiting. Depuration, as a post-harvest process, has a long history of being applied in shellfish industry to reduce sewage bacteria. In order to reduce the...
Flavored milk is a growing category for dairy products; however, it is a perishable product that is subject to microbial spoilage which can lead to a negative consumer experience and lead to lost sales. Flavored milk processors communicated unique spoilage events related to their products, including color loss of strawberry...