75 Iera Odos, Athens 11855, Greece
Tel: +30-210-529 4693
Fax: +30-210-529 4693
E-mail : gjn@auadec.aua.gr, kkoutsou@agro.auth.gr
Website: http://www.aua.gr

Role and Contribution

The contribution of Participant 3 includes the following tasks:

• Study of the effect of significant ecological and physiological factors such as food structure, microbial competition and physiological stage of the cells to the growth potential of pathogens and spoilage bacteria of meat products.
  
• Production of a significant number of growth data of dominating meat pathogens for a variety of meat products stored under different temperatures and atmosphere conditions.
  
• The quantitative expression of the effect of the above factors by developing accurate mathematical models.
  
• Generation and collection of data of prevalence and concentration of pathogens on meat raw material, meat chill chain conditions and consumption patterns.
  
• Combination of these data with validated mathematical models for risk assessment of meat products.
  
• Evaluation of the applicability of TTI and SMAS with laboratory and field studies.

Participant 3 is the leader of the WP1 and contributes in WP2, WP4 and WP5. Participant3 contributes to the following main objectives of the project:

• Modelling the effect of food structure, microbial interactions and dynamic storage conditions on meat pathogens and spoilage bacteria.
  
• Validated pathogen growth models will be applied to assess risk of specific meat products upon consumption.
  
• Combination of validated pathogen growth models with data on prevalence/concentration, dose response and chill chain conditions for risk assessment with and without SMAS application.
  
• Evaluation of the applicability and effectiveness of SMAS in real conditions of meat distribution. Assessment of the industry acceptance of the TTI and the concept of chill chain management.

The Agricultural University of Athens in Greece was established in 1920 and it is the 3rd oldest University of Greece and the first to be devoted to Agriculture and to Agricultural Industries.

Prof. G.J. Nychas was the coordinator of FLAIR 89055 and FAR up-2-515 projects, concerning MAP technology of meat, fish and their products. He is also involved with other EU projects [FLAIR 89057, AIR 125, AIR 1251, AIR1496] dealing with the safety and quality of foods, or predictive modelling or Projects funded from the Greek Government [microbiology of olives, fermented sausages, Preservation of fresh fish and control of maturation of salted fish]. He has represented the Greek Government in a wide range of meetings held in Brussels (SCAR etc).

Dr. K. Koutsoumanis is an Agricultural engineer with a PhD in Food Microbiology working in the field of food quality and safety control. He has participated in several EU research projects, shared cost and concerted actions related with food quality and safety and predictive microbiology.

Several papers produced by AUA team concerning food microbiology and modeling quality and safety of foods have been published in International Journals. A list of recent publication is given below