Food safety method
Methods for inoculating a grain suitable for use in testing methods of reducing bacterial load are disclosed. Also disclosed are methods of reducing bacterial load on a grain by using elevated temperature and an organic acid. Also disclosed are methods of tempering a grain at an elevated temperature and reduced time as compared to standard tempering methods.
1. A method of producing a flour, the method comprising:
a. heating grain in the absence of a tempering solution to a temperature of at least 115° F. to produce heated grain,
b. adding a tempering solution to the heated grain to arrive at a moisture content of 12% to 20% to produce a tempering mixture,
c. incubating the tempering mixture at a temperature of least 70° F. for sufficient time to achieve a tempered grain, and
d. milling the tempered grain to produce the flour, wherein:
the tempering solution is an organic acid solution;
the organic acid is lactic acid, peracetic acid, acetic acid, citric acid or salicylic acid; and
the time is less than 24 hours.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the heating step and incubating step are performed at a temperature of from 115° F. to 170° F.
3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising a step of adjusting the temperature of the tempering solution to a temperature of within 5° F. of the heated grain.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the organic acid is lactic acid.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the organic acid is included in the tempering solution in an amount sufficient to provide an organic acid content of at least about 2×10 −5 moles per gram grain.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the tempering solution has a concentration of organic acid of from 1.5% to 15%.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the time is less than 6 hours.
8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the time is less than 2 hours.
9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the time is less than 30 minutes.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the grain is wheat.
11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the tempering mixture is incubated to provide at least a 2 log reduction in an inoculated grain of the same type.
12. The method of claim 1 , wherein producing a tempered grain comprises reducing a bacterial load including Shiga toxin producing E. coli (STEC) on the grain.