KontRed

Duration from 15.11.2020 - 14.11.2023, funded by the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) under the funding code (FKZ) 281C104G.

Zoonoses pose a risk to the consumption of many foods. For meat products, Salmonella and Campylobacter are the most important pathogens in Germany and the EU. The overarching "KontRed" project, led by Freie Universität Berlin, is therefore working with 15 other partners from research and industry to develop and establish technologies and processes to reduce the occurrence and transmission of zoonotic microorganisms and increase food safety at a key point in the poultry and pig food chain: the slaughter and processing stage. The overriding objective is to optimize and control existing processes and procedures and, in addition, to implement new technical procedures from a hygienic point of view in order to reduce the contamination with zoonotic pathogens at the end of the slaughter line. This will improve the safety of poultry meat and pork products and strengthen consumer confidence in the long term. The specific aim of the sub-project of the Institute of Food Hygiene at the University of Leipzig together with the INP is the development and optimization of plasma-based processes for the inactivation of Campylobacter and Salmonella on loose and pre-packaged poultry meat. The challenge here is to determine suitable technical parameters (e.g. working gas, exposure time) for pathogen reduction. Furthermore, various technologies for generating the plasma are being investigated in order to enable optimal treatment options with regard to the parameters mentioned.