Shantae Wilson

Chapter 2 – Mycotoxin Issues in Pet Food

Abstract Recent outbreaks associated with mycotoxin-contaminated pet foods, in conjunction with newly released Preventive Control for Animal Food rule under the Food Safety Modernization Act, have caused many pet food manufacturers to revisit existing mycotoxin mitigation programs. Mycotoxins are ubiquitous contaminants in grains, which are primary ingredients in many pet foods. These chemical compounds are very stable and tend to survive most processing steps in the pet food production line, including heat treatment. Therefore, once formed on pet food ingredients, mycotoxins present a significant foodborne hazard to pets. Mycotoxicosis in pet animals may result from direct ingestion of contaminated pet food ingredients. Prevention and mitigation of mycotoxins on pet food ingredients is the most effective strategy to prevent their presence in final food products and to avoid negative health effects and potential recall and legal costs. This chapter introduces major mycotoxins relevant to pet food, summarizes recent outbreaks and recalls associated with mycotoxin-contaminated pet food, outlines challenges associated with quantitative measurements of toxin levels in pet food, and reports present day measures to prevent mycotoxin contamination. The information presented in this review is expected to assist pet food processing engineers, quality control and safety managers, and educators and researchers, especially those dealing with grains as ingredients in pet food.

Dry Matter Loss for Hybrid Rough Rice Stored Under Reduced-Oxygen Conditions

The objectives of this research were to characterize dry matter loss of hybrid long-grain rough rice during storage under reduced-oxygen conditions and develop a new approach to predict the dry matter loss by using storage temperature and relative humidity data as input. Two long-grain hybrid rice cultivars, CL XL745 and XL760, harvested in the year 2015 were stored in rough-rice form in sealed glass jars at moisture contents of 12.5, 16, 19, and 21%, (wet basis) and temperatures of 10, 15, 20, 27, and 40°C for a total of 16 weeks, with samples taken at 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, and 16 weeks of storage. Results revealed no differences in dry matter loss connected with the rough-rice moisture content levels and temperature during the storage duration. However, the dry matter loss was statistically different based on rough-rice cultivar. Experimental data were fitted to a dry matter loss equation for long-grain rice found in literature. The dry matter loss equation developed for conditions of grain storage withou...

Quality, Decontamination, and Energy Use Considerations During Radiant-Heat and Tempering Treatments of Shelled Corn

Infrared (IR) heating of corn followed by tempering treatments has potential to decontaminate corn of microbes without adverse effects on the overall corn quality. However, it is vital to determine the optimal processing parameters that maximize throughput and microbial load reduction and minimize drying energy without affecting overall corn quality. This study investigated effects of IR heating and tempering treatments on mold load reduction, corn color change, and drying energy requirements. Freshly harvested corn samples with initial moisture contents (IMCs) of 20, 24, and 28% wet basis were dried with a laboratory-scale IR batch dryer in one and two drying passes. The dried samples were then tempered for 2, 4, and 6 h at 50, 70, and 90°C. Results showed that mold load reduction ranged from 1 to 3.8 log colony forming units per gram of corn (log CFU/g) for one-pass treatments and from 0.8 to 4.4 log CFU/g for two-pass treatments as tempering temperature and tempering duration increased. Compared with t...