ARS | Publication request: Fat content and D-Value, A tale of two finfish

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: August 3, 2010
Publication Date: August 3, 2010
Citation: Rajkowski, K.T. 2010. Fat content and D-Value, A tale of two finfish. International Association for Food Protection., August 1-4, 2010., Anaheim, CA., Poster#, P.1-62.

Technical Abstract: In the National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Food (NACMCF) report, it was determined that the cooking process (time/temperature) requirement for seafood would be different than for meat products. NACMCF identified a need to determine the time/temperature requirements to adequately cook finfish to assure the thermal inactivation of the human pathogens: Salmonella spp. and Escherichia coli O157:H7, Listeria monocytogenes and Staphylococcus aureus. Thermal inactivation, D-values, was obtained for the four pathogens inoculated on raw catfish and tilapia at 55, 60 and 65 C. The D-values at 60 C ranged from 1 min for Salmonella and E. coli to 5 min for L. monocytogenes and S. aureus on the finfish, which is lower that the reported values for meat products. The Z-values (6.0-6.2 C) for L. monocytogenes and S. aureus was higher than those Z-values (4.3-5.0) for Salmonella and E. coli on the finfish. In this study we found that the fat content of the finfish did not make a difference. This data can be used to determine the cooking guideline for finfish to assure the safety of cooked product.