Use of Antimicrobial-coated Plastic Films to Control Listeria monocytogenes on Ready-to-eat Foods, 2008 PLACE Conference

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Contamination of ready-to-eat (RTE) foods with Listeria monocytogenes has been a concern for the food processing industry. The contamination is most likely due to surface contamination from external sources. In this study, antimicrobials (sodium lactate or nisin) were incorporated into edible coating solutions (chitosan or mixture of methylcellulose (MC) and hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC)) and the solutions were cast onto plastic films. These antimicrobial-coated plastic films were then used to wrap ham steaks and cold-smoked salmon inoculated with L. monocytogenes. The samples were vacuum-packaged and stored at 4°C. The following figures summarize the results.