May / June, 2003
Reprinted with permission from Futures magazine,
Winter 2003 issue, Vol 21, No. 1, Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station
Processed foods have taken much of the work and worry out of meal times. Purchasing a roasted chicken and potato salad from the delicatessen section of a grocery store dramatically lessens the time spent in the kitchen preparing dinner. But taking the work and worry out of food preparation has put the responsibility for the food's safety directly into the hands of the food processor and food service provider. To help ensure that their products are safe, food processors must develop processing methods that meet food safety regulations set forth by the federal government.
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MAES agricultural engineer
Bradley Marks (right) and student Adam Watkins test food safety
methods using information developed through a computer model. This
information will help ensure that parameters set up by the computer
model will indeed ensure a safe processed meat product.
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Bradley Marks, MAES agricultural engineer, says the development of safe meat processing methods is primarily an engineering issue. Marks, MSU food scientists Elliot Ryser, Alden Booren and Denise Smith (who is now at the University of Idaho) are creating and verifying computer models that can predict when during processing a pathogen in a meat product is destroyed.
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Safe processed meat products
result from a combination of proper food handling before, during
and after processing. MAES agricultural engineers, food scientists
and animal scientists are working together to develop the safest
meat processing methods to benefit both processors and consumers.
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Safe food is a priority
Food processing plants are putting a higher premium on food safety in light of incidents of microbial contamination of products at processing plants, such as the nationwide listeriosis outbreak in 1998 that was traced back to meat products processed at Bil Mar Foods in western Michigan. The outbreak killed 15 and sickened more than 100 people. "Back seven or eight years ago when I was working with the meat industry on quality issues, the top three concerns for processing plants were yield, yield and yield," Marks says. "Now the No. 1 concern is food safety, then yield. It is an amazing shift in an incredibly small time frame."
Booren and Ryser bring to the processing industry basic information from their studies to find out how much heat it will take to kill pathogens during processing. It is Marks' job to take that information and create computer models of processing methods to ensure that these pathogens are killed. Using computer models is a more efficient and inexpensive way to help the processing industry meet food safety regulations than conducting tests on an actual processing line, he points out.
"Physics, microbiology and chemistry are all part of building processing models on the computer," Marks says. "It allows us to process food without wasting as much product. The ultimate goal is to optimize commercial processing lines and food safety."
The scientists are also developing employee training materials addressing the importance of food safety and the process needed to ensure product safety.
"People are still a critical element in making food safety happen in food processing," Marks says. "The training materials help employees understand why certain processes are done to ensure safe food production, at a level they will understand and easily implement.
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While creating a computer
model of methods to kill Salmonella during meat processing, MAES
agricultural engineer, Brad
Marks found that properties within the food itself - not humidity,
as first suspected - affected how well the pathogen was killed.
With this information, Marks adjusted processing methods with the
model. Food processors pattern their processing methods after these
computer models to eliminate food safety risks.
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"The growing trend toward convenience food consumption means attention to food safety also grows," he says. "Federal regulations force processing companies to prove that they are achieving proper food safety standards, and this creates a need for more tools the industry can use to reach that requirement. This means the processing industry relies on research and education to help them improve food safety."
Research benefits industry
Bob Swackhamer knows about this reliance. He's the manager of the food processing and training center for Frigoseandia Equipment and Stein-DSI in Ohio, and he describes the relationship between scientists and industry as "a bit of a fraternity that shares common interests" in food safety, heat transfer, and food processing equipment research and education.
"Our customers are processors," he says. "We provide the equipment that makes ready-to-eat food products for their companies, such as fryers, ovens, freezers and batter machines. Our equipment capacity is anywhere from 3,000 to 4,000 pounds of product per hour to 15,000 to 20,000 pounds per hour, primarily poultry products. If you've eaten a Chicken McNugget lately, in all likelihood our equipment made it."
Marks became involved with Stein-DSI through his acquaintance with Swackhamer which eventually led to MSU students doing research studies in heat transfer at the center. This relationship worked out so well that the center continues to support MSU students' research, and Swackhamer is on the industry advisory board for the Department of Agricultural Engineering. The company's food scientist, Nahed Kotrola, is working with Marks to develop food safety seminars for food processors, including a seminar to be held in the center in May 2003. Marks also conducts training courses at the center, using data from research he's conducted.
Valued relationship
"Their work includes validation studies on new equipment and issues of sanitary design," Swackhamer says. "We value our relationship with Michigan State and actively seek to strengthen it to meet the needs of our customers.
"We've seen the trends change in the last 20 to 25 years," he says. "The ballgame is totally different - when they take delivery, we will hold their hands and train them in the proper use of the equipment. We need to know what the customers' needs and requirements are so we can supply them with the equipment they need for a good, safe product. Also, continuing research by our food scientists spills over to make even better equipment."
Swackhamer notes that the training center is booked solid six to eight weeks in advance for customer training. The center has grown from 800 square feet in the 1980s to its current 30,000 square feet. All food processing methods are tested on full-sized equipment so that customers know exactly what to do.
"Brad [Marks] is a dynamic force here," Swackhamer says. "He's lit a fire and built the enthusiasm for our training programs. Even though we are in different states, we share a common bond of helping promote food safety and the industry."
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