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The primary objectives of the Meat Safety and Quality Research Unit are to reduce the risk of foodborne illness associated with the consumption of red meat, to respond to the research needs of the Food Safety and Inspection Service of the USDA, to increase efficiency of lean meat production, and to improve eating quality of meat. Food safety research addresses the microbial status of the meat from slaughter to table using both molecular and standard microbiological techniques. Unique methods are developed and validated for sampling carcasses and trim, and for isolating and identifying pathogens that may be present. Molecular techniques are used to track contamination to its source, in order to discover additional hurdles that will decrease the transfer of pathogens to the carcass. Factors that affect the survival and recovery of pathogens in stored and cooked meat products, as well as on refrigerated beef carcasses, are examined. Special emphasis is placed on improving intervention strategies and developing new, directed strategies designed to decrease pathogen contamination of red meat without adversely affecting meat quality. All of the information acquired will be integrated into forms usable by the meat industry as part of HACCP plans. Meat quality research is directed toward identifying key steps in the regulation of muscle protein breakdown during growth and during postmortem storage. Special emphasis is placed on the identification of areas of the genome that regulate carcass composition and meat quality, the development of methodologies to classify carcasses based on tenderness and lean meat yield, the effect of breed on carcass composition and meat quality, and the development of intervention technologies to optimize meat tenderness.
Current Projects:
Title: Control of Pathogenic and Spoilage Bacteria on Red Meat
Objectives:
Develop phylogenetic and phenotypic markers for E. coli O157:H7, non-O157 Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC)/enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC), and Salmonella spp. based on genomic and proteomic strain comparisons, expression analysis, and multi-drug resistance profiles for use in molecular strain typing, intervention method development, and design of multiple pathogen detection schemes.
Determine prevalence of unrecognized foodborne pathogens such as STEC on fresh imported beef to be used for ground beef and establish necessary profiling to insure imported beef products meet the same levels of safety as domestic products.
Identify sources of spoilage bacteria and pathogen contamination during beef transport/processing/slaughter (i.e., transport vehicles, lairage pens, air, hides, and feces) and develop novel antimicrobial intervention strategies.
Determine the microbiological safety of lamb processed in the United States and determine the efficacy of currently used intervention technologies during various stages of lamb processing.
Title: Prevention and Control of Shiga-toxigenic Escherichia coli in Livestock
Objectives:
Identify correlates of bovine colonization with STEC O157.
Identify and evaluate potential sites for anti-STEC interventions to prevent or reduce the prevalence of natural STEC intestinal infections or hide surface contamination in livestock.
Title: Prevention of Zoonotic Pathogen Transmission from Animal Manure to Human Food
Objectives:
Identify exploitable biological and environmental factors that affect pathogen occurrence, survival, or transmission in cattle and swine production environments.
Develop and evaluate environmentally safe intervention strategies that reduce or eliminate the occurrence, persistence, or transmission of pathogens in cattle, swine, and their manure.
Title: Strategies to Optimize Carcass Yield and Meat Quality of Red Meat Animals
Objectives:
Develop and evaluate non-invasive instrumentation to predict value determining characteristics of meat.
Develop strategies to optimize meat quality and composition traits of meat.
Staff:
Meat Quality Publications
| Meat Safety Publications
Downloadable Information (pdfs)
Meat Safety
Protocols
USMARC Pathogen enumeration for poultry
USMARC Pathogen enumeration in compost and manure
USMARC Pathogen enumeration for feces hides carcass ground beef
Meat Quality
Protocols
Shear Force Methodologies (Warner-Bratzler, Slice, Belt grill cooking)
Slice Shear Force Protocol For Large Volume
Slice Shear Force Protocol For Small Volume
Warner-Bratzler Shear Force Protocol
SSF Movie requires Apple Quicktime
MFI
Western Blot
Calpain/Calpastatin
Standard Column Gradient Elution for Calpain/Calpastatin
Two-step Elution for Calpain/Calpastatin
Heated Calpastatin
Heated/Column Calpastatin
Sarcomere Length
Collagen from Hydroxyproline (HPLC Method)
Carcass Yield
Wholesale Rib Dissection
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