Post Lethality Control Ready To Eat Products
FSIS has developed regulatory requirements specifically for controlling Lm in post-lethality exposed RTE products. In addition, the agency has developed Lm sampling programs as part of its public health strategy for protecting consumers against Lm.
The is the area in an establishment into which product subjected to an initial lethality treatment has been routed. The product may be exposed to the environment through slicing, peeling, re-bagging, cooling semi-permeable encased product in a brine solution, or other procedures.
Post Lethality Exposed is RTE product that comes into direct contact with a food contact surface in the post-lethality processing environment after an initial lethality treatment. Only post-lethality exposed RTE products are subject to 9 CFR 430
Dan Mar Co offers two antimicrobial interventions that has scientific supporting documentation for the application of a 7120.1 approved Safe Suitable ingredient. XG-940 and Keeper are approved as a Post Lethality Exposed Ready to Eat Intervention. The concentration approved 0-1200 ppm acidified sodium chlorite, pH 3.5 to 7.5 pH
and Free Chlorine Dioxide 0 to 30 ppm
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45 day Shelf Life Study on Ham Chub inoculated with Listeria
Applied at Neutral pH and known levels of Free Chlorine Dioxide.
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The growth of Listeria bacteria through time with constant temperature, showed the bacteria was growing consistently with the known growth curves for this psychrophilic organism. Interestingly, the population of Listeria was being impacted by the ASC through the first 15 days of the shelf-life. It is not known whether there was a slow residual lethality or a lethality occurring just through the first few days of the shelf-life validation. Post lethality treatment with ASC significantly reduced the bacteria below initial testing on day zero. The subsequent recovery of surviving Listeria was demonstrated in this study. However, levels of Listeria were substantially reduced from the introduced inoculate of 3.5 X 10 5 log cfu/gr to <1.0 cfu gr at day 15.
As a side experiment, a test was performed at the end of the shelf-life study of 45 days and found Listeria level to be nearly 1000 cfu/gr. Vacuum sealing certainly is a factor for validation success in this experiment design and must be considered an important requirement for food safety of the final product when using ASC as a post lethality treatment for controlling Listeria.
Get in Touch
Copies of validation studies are available to customers of Dan Mar Co. Contact us at danmarco1@msn.com