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Artificial Intelligence

Microbiological Contaminants Relevant for Plant-Based Meat Alternatives Challenges and Tool Development to Assess Hazards

Plant-based meat alternatives are increasingly appearing on the shelves of supermarkets. Plant-based ingredients have different properties and origin compared with meat, therefore, microbiological hazards associated with them will be different. Hazard identification and risk assessment tools specific for plant-based products will aid in their safe and sustainable development. A tool was developed as a part of a Multi-Criteria Assessment Platform to assess microbiological hazards relevant for a plant-based burger, to assist at the early stages of product development using Performance Objective approach defined by ICMSF. To evaluate hazards, information about the type of hazard and level relevant for the product ingredients can be retrieved from an ingredient-hazard database and creates an initial hazard profile for plant-based formulations. Insights on microbial contaminants of plant-based ingredients and their heat inactivation rates were collected from metadata analysis in literature. This data, together with processing and storage conditions and microbial growth models, was used to identify the most likely hazards for plant-based burgers. The growth was predicted using the Modified Gompertz model and Gamma approach was used to incorporate the factors such as Temperature, Water activity and pH. Sensitivity analysis was performed to identify the most critical factors in assessing the risk. Heat treatment typical for plant-based burgers will inactivate vegetative pathogens, however, when packed after heat treatment, Listeria monocytogenes is an important (re-contaminator) hazard to control. Heat resistant spores, which are common contaminants of plant-based dry ingredients, however, will not be inactivated, and should be considered to ensure safety of plant-based meat alternatives. C. botulinum and B. cereus spores can be inactivated during extrusion of the powders to create the TVP, however re-contamination with spores needs to be prevented. The developed tool can be used for a quick and automated hazard identification for different food products. Speaker: Hasmik Hayrapetyan, PhD

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