The Microbiological Safety of Low Water Activity Foods and Spices: Food Microbiology and Food Safety / Practical Approaches

Low water activity (asubw/sub) 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 asubw/sub foods, and a historic backdrop to the paradigm shift now highlighting low asubw/sub 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 persis

Joshua B. Gurtler, USDA Research Scientist, Phoenixville, PA

Michael P. Doyle, Regents Professor of Food Microbiology, Director, Center for Food Safety, Department of Food Science and Technology, University of Georgia, Griffin, GA

Jeffrey L. Kornacki, President and Senior Technical Director, Kornacki Microbiology Solutions, Inc., Madison, WI

A. Introduction and Overview.- 1. The Microbiological Safety of Spices and Low Water Activity Foods: Correcting Historic Misassumptions.-2. Challenges in the Control of Foodborne Pathogens in Low-Water Activity Foods and Spices.- B. Pathogen Persistence and Control in Low aw Foods and Processing Plants.- 3. Adaptation of Pathogenic Microorganisms to Dry Conditions.- 4. Transcriptomic Responses of Salmonella Species to Desiccation and Low-Moisture Environments: Extending Our Knowledge of How Bacteria Cope with Low-Moisture Stress.- 5. Processing Plant Investigations: Practical Approaches to Determining Sources of Persistent Bacterial Strains in the Industrial Food Processing Environment.- 6. Dry Cleaning, Wet Cleaning and Alternatives to Processing Plant Hygiene and Sanitation.- C. Low aw Food Commodities of Interest.- 7. Spices.- 8. Dried Dairy-Based Products.- 9. Low Water Activity Meat Products.- 10. Dried, Ready-to-Eat Cereal Products.- 11. Powdered Infant Formula.- 12. Nuts and Nut Pastes.- 13. Flour and Meal.- 14. Chocolate and Confectionary.- 15. Salty Snack Foods.- 16. Pet Foods.- 17. Dried Teas and Herbs.- D. Product Testing.- 18. Regulatory Testing Guidelines and Recommendations.- 19. Methodological and Sampling Challenges to Testing Spices and Low aw Foods for the Presence of Foodborne Pathogens.- E. Low aw Food Decontamination.- 20. Irradiation, Microwave and Alternative Energy-Based Treatments for Low Water Activity.- 21. Heat and Steam Treatments.- F. Research Needs.- 22. Research Gaps and Needs Pertaining to Microbial Pathogens in Spices and Low aw Foods.

Table Of Contents

About Joshua B. Gurtler