What if the key to improving food safety in thermal processing — heating, cooking and smoking — is more water?

To reduce the risk of foodborne illnesses, it is crucial that meat and poultry processors focus on food safety throughout the operational cycle, and that includes the pivotal post-processing pasteurization stage.

Although a slew of systems are taking shape and likely to become more active or launch in the coming years, thermal processing still is the dominant pasteurization method for enhancing food safety in meat and poultry.

There is a growing trend for food manufacturers to produce more meat and meal products that are restaurant- or even gourmet-quality.

The three main palatability characteristics of beef are flavor, tenderness and juiciness (Savell 1987, Lyford 2010, McBee 1967), with tenderness and juiciness being primarily physical properties.

Processors use post-harvest pasteurization methods to put another barrier between their product and Listeria — their clean, sustainable qualities are an added benefit.

Cooking, chilling and freezing systems are a necessary component of the post-harvest process.