Vijay K. Juneja, DVM., MS., Ph.D.

1. Emerging Technologies for the Control of Foodborne Pathogens and the USDA-Pathogen Modeling Program Vijay K. Juneja, DVM., MS., Ph.D. Microbial Food Safety Research UnitEastern Regional Research CenterARS - USDA600 East Mermaid LaneWyndmoor, Pennsylvania 19038 Phone: 215-233-6500Fax: 215-233-6697e-mail: vijay.juneja@ars.usda.gov

2. Agricultural Research ServiceNational Program 108 (Food Safety) Mission Statement: The mission of Food Safety Program is to provide the means to ensure that the food supply is safe for consumers and that food and feed meet foreign and domestic regulatory requirements. To decrease the hazards of both introduced and naturally occurring toxicants in foods and feed, including pathogenic bacteria, viruses and parasites, chemical contaminants, mycotoxins produced by fungi growing on plants, and naturally occurring toxins produced by plants.

3. Agricultural Research Service Research and Technology Transfer The USDA Agricultural Research Service Food Safety Program addresses prevention and control of food pathogens, the production, harvesting, processing, transportation, handling, and storage of food (the farm to table continuum), and the prevention of toxic chemical hazards in food through research programs that benefit producers, processors, and the public.

4. Agricultural Research ServiceNational Program 108 (Food Safety) Vision Statement: Safe food available to every American at home, when eating out, or in institutional settings, and the knowledge needed to keep that food safe until consumption. • The research components of this program include: Microbial Pathogens Chemical Residues Mycotoxins Toxic Plants

5. The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) is the Chief Scientific Agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture • 100 Locations, in All 50 States + International Sites • 2200 Ph.D. Scientists • 8000 Employees • >$1 Billion Budget • $105 Million for Food Safety, 77 Projects + CRADA

6. ARS National Programs Animal ProductionNutrition/SafetyNatural ResourcesCrop Production Water Quality & Management Soil Resource Management Air Quality Global Change Rangeland, Pasture & Forages Manure & Byproduct Utilization Integrated Agricultural Systems Plant, Microbial & Insect Germplasm Conservation & Development Plant Biological & Molecular Processes Plant Diseases Crop Protection & Quarantine Crop Production Bioenergy & Energy Alternatives Methyl Bromide Alternatives Human Nutrition Food Safety New Uses, Quality & Marketability of Plant & Animal Products Animal Production Animal Health Arthropod Pests of Animals and Humans Animal Well-Being and Stress Control Systems Aquaculture

7. Agricultural Research Service: $102M • Pre-harvest $60M • Post-arvest $42M • Eastern Regional Research Center: $18M • ~18% of total food safety budget • ~43% of post-harvest budget USDA/ARS – Funding for Food Safety

8. Four regional research centers, provide the major portion of ARS's capability for research and development of technology to increase the use of agricultural products and thereby enhance the economic viability and competitiveness of U.S. agriculture. NCAUR (NRRC) – Peoria, Illinois SRRC – New Orleans, LA ERRC – Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania WRRC – Albany, California $31.5 mil Budget300 Employees90 PhD Scientists/Engineers17 Research Associates Worksites:- University of Maryland Eastern Shore- Delaware State University

9. ERRC Stakeholder

10. Although the United States maintains one of the safest food supplies in the world… Per year in the USA • 5,000 deaths (0.002%) • 325,000 hospitalizations (0.1%) • 76 million cases (27.5%) • $5 to $8.4 billion in costs Total Cases per year in USA Campylobacter 1,963,000 (14.2%) Salmonella 1,342,000 (9.7%) E. coli 0157:H7 92,500 (0.5%) Listeria monocytogenes 2,000 (-) Mead et al., 1999

11. Pathogens of concern(Meat and Poultry) • The most common foodborne bacterial pathogens associated with meat and poultry are: Campylobacter jejuni (poultry), Escherichia coli 0157:H7 (ground beef and pork), Listeria monocytogenes (beef, pork, poultry, and sea food), Salmonella species (beef, pork, poultry, and sea food), Staphylococcus aureus (beef, pork, and poultry), and Yersinia enterocolitica. (meat and seafood).

12. Potential Emerging Pathogens • Hepatitis E virus • Chronic wasting disease (TSE that affects deer and elk) • Multiple antibiotic-resistant pathogens • Non jejuni/coli Campylobacter spp. • Non O157 Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (enterohemorrhagic E. coli, EHEC), and other diarrheagenic E. coli groups • Enterobacter sakazakii

13. Food Safety – The Big Picture! “Naturally Contaminated” “Purposeful Addition by Humans” Food Security - a (relatively) new piece of the puzzle!

14. - Find, Characterize, & Kill Interventions Thermal Varying Cooking Temperatures/Times, HTST/UHT Pasteurization Non-Thermal (New, Developing) Physical, Chemical, Biological, and Electromagnetic Processes Slaughter Fabricate Centers of Excellence in Process Validation (BSL-2 & BSL-3) Process People – 40 to 50: Budget - $6.5M Locations – PA, DE, MD, & GA Publications - >125/year Raw Materials Finished Products Modeling Recovery/Characterization • Predictive Microbiology (PMIP) (PMP, ComBase) • Center of Excellence in Microbial Modeling and Informatics (CEMMI) • Biosensors (Rapid Detection Technologies) • Nucleic Acid (PCR, PFGE) • Genomics & Proteomics (Omics)

15. Food Preservation • Aseptic handling to prevent or minimize entry of microorganisms into food • Physically removing microorganisms in food • Killing microbial cells and spores present in foods • Preventing or reducing the growth of microorganisms and germination of spores present in foods

16. Techniques that slow or prevent the growth of microorganisms Reduction in temperature Reduction in water activity Reduction in pH Removal of oxygen Modified atmosphere packaging Addition of preservatives Techniques that inactivate microorganisms Heating Pasteurization Sterilization Techniques that restrict access of microorganisms Packaging Aseptic processing Major Existing Technologies for Food Preservation

17. New and Emerging Technologies for Food Preservation • Natural additives • Animal-derived antimicrobials • Plant-derived antimicrobials • Microbial products • Physical processes • Irradiation • High hydrostatic pressure • Electrical methods • Ultrasound

18. What is Predictive Microbiology ?

19. Thermal Inactivation of Foodborne Pathogens • The models: • Develop HACCP Plans • Validate HACCP Plans, or • The effects of process deviations • Determine the relative severity of a problem • Finally, plan for corrective actions

20. Fate of Pathogens in Food 10,000,000 1,000,000 100,000 10,000 1,000 Bacterial levels 100 0 • Extrinsic: • Storage temperature • RH of environment • Modified Atmosphere • Intrinsic: • pH • Aw • Oxidation potential “PMIP” Predictive Microbiology Information Portal Growth Survival Death Modeling Viability and Transfer ofPathogens in Raw, Fermented, and Ready-to-Eat Foods Examples of Parameters that Affect The Fate of Pathogens in Foods • Pathogen Modeling Program: • Used by 30% of Food Industry for HACCP validation • 5000 Online users in 35 countries annually • Portuguese, Chinese, Spanish • ComBase: • 42,000 Records of growth, survival, and inactivation of microbes

21. Center of Excellence in Microbial Modeling & Informatics

22. Regulations Models Useful Links • Final Rule on Listeria monocytogenes in RTE Meat and Poultry Products • “Zero Tolerance” Policy Predictive Microbiology Information Portal

24. Pathogen Modeling Program (PMP) 7.0 The PMP is a repository of models that estimate the behavior of bacterial pathogens in specific environments. Through a user interface, information is provided about the effects of environmental factors on: - growth - inactivation (thermal and non-thermal) - toxin production

27. Predictive Models For Foodborne Pathogens (Applications) CRIS 57 -- Web-based database for food microbiology data consisting of thousands of microbial growth and survival models-- Major international initiative to coordinate collection and dissemination of food microbiology data – ERRC and Institute of Food Research CRIS 57

29. THANK YOU! DO YOU HAVEANY QUESTIONS?