Food Antimicrobial Preservatives: Back to Nature
P. Michael Davidson, Professor and Interim Head
Department of Food Science and Technology
University of Tennessee
Knoxville, TN, USA
A few antimicrobial food preservatives, such as salt, have been utilized for thousands of years to extend the storage life of food products. For the past 100 years, a small group of “synthetic” chemical preservatives have played an important role in increasing the shelf life and assisting in the improvement of the microbiological safety of consumer food products. Because of the increased consumer demand for microbiological food safety, the food processing industry has looked to novel processing technologies and antimicrobial sources to meet that need. One of these sources is naturally occurring antimicrobial compounds. These compounds have potential promise for expanded antimicrobial activity, improved chances for regulatory approval, better consumer acceptance and even health benefits. Naturally occurring antimicrobials have been identified from animal, plant, microbial and mineral sources. The types of compounds, their antimicrobial spectrum, their potential usefulness in foods and challenges and opportunities to their application to foods will be discussed.
Dr.
P. Michael Davidson
is a Professor of Food Microbiology in the Department of Food Science and
Technology at The University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Dr. Davidson received a
B.S. in Microbiology from the University of Idaho in 1973, an M.S. in Food
Science from the University of Minnesota in 1977 and a Ph.D. in 1979 in Food
Science from Washington State University. He joined the Faculty of the
Department of Food Science and Technology at The University of Tennessee in 1979
and achieved the rank of Professor in 1989. From 1991 through 1998, Davidson was
a Professor of Food Microbiology on the Faculty of the Department of Food
Science and Toxicology at the University of Idaho. In 1999, he returned to the
Department of Food Science and Technology at The University of Tennessee,
Knoxville. Davidson has served as Chair of the Food Microbiology Divisions of
both the American Society for Microbiology in 1993 and Institute of Food
Technologists (IFT) in 1997 and in 2000 was presented the Distinguished Service
Award from the IFT Food Microbiology Division. Dr. Davidson has authored or
co-authored over 150 book chapters, research articles and abstracts primarily in
the area of food safety and food antimicrobials. He is the co-editor of the
books Antimicrobials in Foods and Food
Additives. Dr. Davidson is on the Editorial Boards of Food
Biotechnology and the Journal of Food
Safety and formerly served as Associate Scientific Editor of the Journal
of Food Science. He currently serves as Scientific Co-Editor of the Journal
of Food Protection, the research publication of the International
Association for Food Protection. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of
Microbiology and the Institute of Food Technologists. Davidson=s
current research interests are characterization of the effectiveness of
regulatory-approved, biologically-derived and naturally occurring food
antimicrobials and determination of growth and resistance characteristics of
foodborne pathogens.