Food Safety Bacteria predators help against Salmonella in meats
Photo: American Meat Science Association
The American Meat Science Association’s 69th Reciprocal Meat Conference was held 19–22 June at Angelo State University.
fleischwirtschaft.com — USA, San Angelo, Texas. A bacteriophage is a virus that infects and replicates within bacteria, and a university researcher is using them to destroy Salmonella bacteria in meat products. Amilton de Mello, an assistant professor in the College of Agriculture, Biotechnology and Natural Resources at the University of Nevada, Reno, was invited to present his findings at the American Meat Science Association’s 69th Reciprocal Meat Conference held 19–22 June at Angelo State University.
In de Mello’s experiments, meat products contaminated with four types of Salmonella bacteria were treated with Myoviridae bacteriophages during mixing. The Salmonella was introduced on refrigerated meat and poultry trim, and then treated with the bacteriophages before grinding.
The Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that non-typhoidal Salmonella causes 1.2 mill. illnesses and 450 deaths annually in the United States. Symptoms of infection include fever, abdominal cramps, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. People contract Salmonella by eating contaminated food, drinking contaminated water or touching infected animals and not washing their hands afterward.