Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Fermentation processes – In package
Reexamination Certificate
1999-10-15
2001-09-11
Wong, Leslie (Department: 1761)
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Fermentation processes
In package
C426S055000, C426S061000, C426S324000, C426S332000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06287610
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a method for preserving food products, and particularly meat and meat by-products and food products produced thereby. More particularly this invention relates to a method for preparing a meat product having a shelf life of up to 150 days by dehairing an animal, removing the hide of the animal, contacting the animal carcass with weak organic acids, and inoculating meat with euhygienic bacteria to competitively inhibit and/or exclude the growth of undesired pathogenic and spoilage bacteria.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In the meat industry, and particularly in those areas devoted to the processing of beef and pork, meat packers slaughter animals in a process in which the animals are stunned, bled, skinned, eviscerated, and fabricated into meat sections which are then marketed in grocery stores and in the restaurant trade. Animals enter a meat slaughter plant with various foreign materials present on their hair, including blood, dirt, manure, mud, and vegetative material. An animal's hair is also contaminated with a multitude of microorganisms, some of which are pathogenic to humans. Most bacteria present in a meat slaughtering and processing facility are carried into the facility on the hides of animals to be slaughtered. During the slaughtering process these microorganisms contact meat and other meat by-products, thereby contaminating such products, creating handling problems and reducing the shelf life and safety of the meat products.
The control of contamination by microorganisms is a recognized problem in the meat packing industry. The preparation of food products, and particularly fresh meat and meat products for the retail market, is largely concerned with the control of microbial contact with food in order to increase the shelf life of food products. Food products having an extended shelf life afford more time in which handlers, shippers, and wholesalers can transport and sell such food before spoilage occurs. Efforts to increase the shelf life of food products, such as meat, have traditionally been focused on reducing the number of bacteria present on the surface of the food product.
Freezing food, and particularly meat, has proven to be an effective way in which to retard the growth of bacteria that may be present on the surface of the food. The freezing of meat, however, especially for extended periods of time, has many undesirable effects. By freezing a meat product, water within the meat crystallizes, causing the denaturing of proteins and other damage to the meat on a cellular level. Moreover, the texture, consistency and taste of thawed frozen meat is less desirable than that of fresh meat. Because of the relative short shelf life of fresh meat, foreign markets can only be reached by freezing domestic meat products. Many foreign meat consumers, such as those in the Pacific rim countries and Europe, prefer fresh meat to frozen meat. Such fresh meat preference effectively precludes foreign sales of domestic meat. Without freezing the meat product, however, the bacteria that has contacted the meat during processing are able to proliferate, creating spoilage and pathogenic concerns.
The opportunity for bacterial contact with the fresh meat begins when an animal is initially presented for processing and extends up until the time the meat product is consumed. The initial bacterial contact with fresh meat is encountered with a meat processing facility due to the contaminated state of the animal when it enters the facility. Further opportunities for bacterial contact arise from the significant amount of human handling and equipment exposure during the slaughter, processing, and transportation of meat products. Moreover, when consumers remove the wrapping of a meat product for cooking, additional opportunities present themselves for bacterial infection.
The time between the initial opportunity for bacterial contact with meat products and the ultimate consumption of such products by consumers, allows for the proliferation of various forms of bacteria, including the growth of undesired spoilage and pathogenic bacteria. The growth of undesired bacteria on meat presents aesthetic concerns affecting the marketability of meat products. For example, growth of spoilage bacteria creates undesired odors due to bacterial production of certain esters, hydrogen sulfide, nitrogenous compounds, futuric acid, propionic acid, formic acid, as well as other undesirable gases and acids. The growth of other such bacteria also acts to discolor the surface of the meat. Moreover, when meat packaged in permeable plastic packages spoils, the packaging often inflates due to the generation of gas produced by spoilage bacteria.
Contamination of meat with pathogenic bacteria is also a great concern since such bacteria, or toxins produced by such bacteria, can cause illness or disease in humans and animals who consume such meat. The shelf life of a meat product is directly related to the number of spoilage and pathogenic bacteria present on the surface of the meat product. A meat product having a high level of spoilage and pathogenic bacteria on its surface exhibits a relatively short shelf life, whereas meat having a low count of spoilage and pathogenic bacteria exhibit an extended shelf life.
There has been a long felt need in the meat packaging industry for controlling undesired bacterial proliferation in order to avoid spoilage and thereby increase the shelf life of meat products. Government standards also mandate that meat processing facilities attain certain tolerances which have been set regarding the number of potentially hazardous bacteria that meat may contain. Methods by which undesired bacterial growth on meat can be controlled are therefore desired.
Food safety has now become a major concern to the food industry, particularly the meat industry. Outbreaks of food poisoning resulting from contamination of meat with pathogenic bacteria, has spawned a vast amount of research to identify and control such contamination.
Until 1996, inspection procedures in the food industry, including the meat packing industry, have not been sufficient to prevent bacterial contamination from occurring. New regulations from The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), however, will require the meat packing industry to (1) develop and implement written sanitation standard operating procedures; (2) implement regular microbial testing of food products to verify the adequacy of processes for the prevention and removal of fecal contamination and associated bacteria; (3) establish pathogen reduction performance standards for Salmonella; and (4) implement a system of preventive controls designed to improve the safety of food products. These regulations are outlined in the Federal Register, Part II, Department of Agriculture, 9 C.F.R. Part 304, et al., and are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. Therefore, the problem of finding an effective method for controlling pathogenic and spoilage bacteria is increasingly more imperative as the new regulations go into effect.
In a meat processing facility, animals are slaughtered and fabricated in a process which progressively disassembles the animal to produce meat cuts for sale to customers. When an animal to be slaughtered enters a processing facility, it typically has a great variety of bacteria present on its hide. Bacteria present on an animal primarily originate from the foreign material present on an animal's hide, including blood, dirt, manure, mud and vegetative material. The necessary handling of meat products during the fabrication process provides additional opportunities for meat to come into contact with bacteria. In conventional meat processing facilities, it has not been economically feasible to remove all sources of material contact with the meat or to maintain perfect environmental conditions to retard bacterial growth.
The prior art utilizes several methods to prolong the retail acceptability of meat products. For example, vacuum packing of meat in gas permeable pa
Bowling Rod A.
Clayton Robert Paul
Monfort Inc.
Sheridan & Ross P.C.
Wong Leslie
LandOfFree
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