Digestion of green plants in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract produces degradation products from chlorophyll that cause ingesta and feces to be highly fluorescent. This property was exploited for development and construction of instruments to noninvasively, detect minute quantities of feces on meat samples in real time. The presence of feces on meat products is a primary source of foodborne pathogens, such as E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella. This new technology provides a rapid and accurate alternative to the practice of visual inspection and augments more time-consuming biological testing methods. This innovation can assist meat processors and government inspectors in their efforts to provide safe and wholesome food to consumers.
We, and Tom Casey and Mark Rasmussen of the National Animal Disease Center, USDA, ARS, have patented this technology, which has won several awards, including an R&D100 award in 2000. Our former student, Kyle Ashby, is shown with a hand held prototype of the device that we constructed.
The fluorescence of ingesta and feces is demonstrated here.
We have licensed this technology to eMerge Interactive, Sebastian, FL in order to develop a device capable of scanning an entire beef carcass. A schematic of the device is given. This device is currently being installed in an Excel packing plant.
