USA - Researcher uses lactic acid to reduce salmonella and E. coli

Texas Tech University researcher Dr. Mindy Brashears has developed a treatment shown to reduce foodborne pathogens such as salmonella and E. coli 0157:H7 in processed beef and poultry. In a seeming paradox, a mixture of "good" lactic acid bacteria kills "bad" bacteria to reduce foodborne pathogens such as salmonella and E. coli 0157:H7 in processed beef and poultry by as much as 99.99 percent. The mixture, to be sold under the name Bovamine Meat Cultures, has passed GRAS (generally recognized as safe) status review by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration and is one of few post-production treatments available to protect meat and poultry during long-term storage without affecting the flavor or shelf life of the products. Administered during the processing phase, Bovamine works with other interventions throughout the beef production chain to provide an added layer of protection for consumers. Consumers will be able to look for meat and poultry products labeled to reflect the lactic acid cultures used to reduce foodborne pathogens. "Lactic acid bacteria are considered good bacteria in that they have a lot of benefits," said Brashears, associate professor and director of the International Center for Food Industry Excellence at Texas Tech. "They are used to make several products like cheese, yogurt and sausages. They have a place in nature and they compete with other bacteria by producing compounds that kill the other bacteria. It is not a new concept, but some of the applications we have developed are unique." The treatment was developed through Texas Tech University and is available through Indianapolis-based Nutrition Physiology Corp. Research was funded by the Beef Checkoff Program, the Texas Beef Council and Nutrition Physiology Corp. America's beef producers have invested more than $22 million since 1993 in beef safety research and development of methods aimed at reducing foodborne bacteria. Bovamine also has been shown to reduce salmonella bacteria on chicken, which can cause food poisoning, typhoid and parathpoid fever in humans. Brashears' research was published in the Journal of Food Protection, the leading publication in the field of food microbiology.