Effect of non-thermal ultraviolet and ultrasound technologies on disinfection of meat preparation equipment in catering industry.

In recent years, ultraviolet and ultrasound treatments are gaining attraction as promising green decontamination technologies to ensure microbial safety in food industry. Decontamination by ultraviolet light is a physical process defined by the transfer of electromagnetic energy from a light source to an organism's cellular material and depended on the emission of radiation in the ultraviolet region (100-400 nm), specifically the UV-C region (200-280 nm) which has been demonstrated to be germicidal. Ultrasound technology is defined as sound waves with high and low frequency beyond the limit of human hearing and shows a decontamination effect that occurs as a consequence of cavitation at high power (low frequency) in general. In the present study, it was aimed to determine the effectiveness of ultraviolet light (254 nm, 10 min) and high frequency ultrasound techniques (40 kHz, 10 min) in reducing total aerobic mesophilic bacteria, yeast and mold, Esherichia coli/coliform and Salmonella spp. on the equipment surfaces used in the catering facility. For this purpose, the equipment (cutting knife, meat grinder knife, knife sharpener, cut-proof glove) used in the meat preparation department of catering facility were selected for the treatments. According to the results, appreciable reductions were achieved in total aerobic mesophilic bacterial counts of the ultraviolet treated samples (maximum difference 2.61 log cfu/cm2) and the ultrasound treated samples (maximum difference 4.07 log cfu/cm2). After ultraviolet treatment, Salmonella spp. were totally inhibited on the contaminated surfaces. Furthermore, Escherichia coli/coliform was not detected in the samples after both treatments whereas it was detected before the treatments. It has been concluded that the techniques are effective in reducing microbiological load and also ultraviolet treatment is effective on pathogenic microorganisms on food contact surfaces. As a result, the ultraviolet and ultrasound techniques are effective treatments for equipment disinfection in the catering sector and can be used industrially as it gives successful results.

Cold-set or hot-set emulsion gels consisted of a healthy oil blend to replace beef fat in heat-treated fermented sausages.

The current work aimed to investigate the utilization of gelled emulsion (GE) systems stabilized either with cold or hot gelation consisted of peanut and linseed oils as fat replacers in fermented beef sausages. The reformulation provided a healthier lipid profile, that led to decreasing total lipid content, cholesterol, and SFAs (from 46.6% to 23.5%) meanwhile increasing both MUFAs (from 47.3% to 51.0%) and PUFAs (from 4.7% to 25.4%) as well as improving nutritional ratios (ω-6/ω-3, PUFA/SFA, IA, and IT). Cold-set GE caused less significant changes in instrumental color and protected PUFAs compared with hot-set GE, whereas hot-set GE provided advantages over cold-set GE in terms of microstructure, purge loss, and sensory scores. Replacement of beef fat fully by a hot-set GE system instead of using a fat-GE mixture was effective in reducing oxidation. The results demonstrated that utilization of different GE systems can be an effective strategy to contribute to the development of lipid-modified fermented meat products.