Dairy, Food and Environmental Sanitation

Abstracts - August, 2001

Scanning Electron Microscope Analysis of Changes in High Density Polyethylene Conveyor Surfaces During Normal Processing in Meat Plant Operations

Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy: A Brief Overview

Scanning Electron Microscope Analysis of Changes in High Density Polyethylene Conveyor Surfaces During Normal Processing in Meat Plant Operations  
Ricky P. Kane,1 Paul D. Hildebrand,2 Paula Allan Wojtas,2 and Joellen M. Feirtag3*
1Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Box 670, Kentville, N.S. B4N 3X9; 2Agri-Food Canada, Food and Horticulture Research Centre, 32 Main St., Kentville, Nova Scotia, Canada; and 3*Department of Food Science and Nutrition, University of Minnesota, 1334 Eckles Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55108

SUMMARY

Conveyor systems in food processing facilities have advanced from stainless steel contact surfaces to complex integrated plastic modular systems. Polyethylene and polypropylene of various molecular weights and densities are the most common plastics in the food industry for conveyors, cutting boards, and tubs. Extensive research has been conducted on stainless steel surfaces used in the food industry, but little research has been reported on the effects of soiling, cleaning, or normal wear on the deterioration of plastic food contact surfaces. New surface features of plastic polymers are important for product selection only if the surface remains stable for long periods of time under conditions found in food processing environments. Conveyor systems in a meat plant environment are affected by many factors, including product impacts, abrasions from knives, and friction against other components of the conveyor complex. Each of these factors actively degrades the surface texture. Processes used during cleaning, such as scrubbing and pressure washing coupled with the chemical influences of high acid and alkaline detergents, may all induce varying degrees of surface damage. This study used scanning electron microscopy to examine (i) unused surfaces of a high density polyethylene plastic conveyor link, (ii) changes that occurred on links exposed to normal processing conditions, and (iii) polyethylene surfaces from a conveyor receiving extensive knife work.

Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy: A Brief Overview
Renee M. Raiden,* Susan S. Sumner, and Merle D. Pierson, Department of Food Science and Technology, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 22 FST Building, Blacksburg, VA 24061

SUMMARY

Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) is a newly emerging disease that affects cattle.
This disease emerged in the United Kingdom less than twenty years ago, and in a matter of years it has crippled the beef industry in European countries. BSE belongs to a category of diseases called Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (TSEs). It has been proposed that these diseases are caused by a newly discovered infectious protein called a prion. In 1994, a new, human form of BSE was found. It is theorized that perhaps, the infectious agent can cross the species barrier and infect humans who eat contaminated meat. This gives rise to a whole new group of problems that need to be addressed. Extensive regulations have been put in place in the affected European countries, as well as in the United States, in an attempt to halt the spread of the disease and eventually get it under control. This article provides an overview of BSE, discusses the history and etiology of the disease, as well as other types of TSE diseases, and addresses regulations that have helped to slow the spread of BSE.