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Food MicroModel
Food MicroModel is a software package that will predict the growth, survival and thermal death of the major food pathogens and a food-spoilage organism in a wide range of foods. It is the result of a multi-million pound research project, initiated and funded by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF).
Food MicroModel consists of over twenty individual models. Each model is organism specific. There is more than one growth model for some of the foodborne pathogens. This enables the user to choose a model which closely reflects the food for which the prediction is being made. There is a model for one food-spoilage organism. There are five thermal death models, which can predict thermal inactivation for five foodborne pathogens.
What is predictive microbiology?
Predictive microbiology is a description of the microbial response to a particular environmental condition, using models as a basis on which predictions are made. The models use experimental data, and equations (known as algorithms), to produce a prediction. A prediction should be used as a guide to the response of an organism to a particular set of conditions.
Some examples of its use are as follows:-
Evaluating the safety and stability of new formulations and identifying one that gives the desired shelf-life.
Identifying potentially dangerous formulations.
Predicting the time taken by yeast to spoil a fruit juice.
Identify which microorganisms are likely to be the limiting factors with regard to food safety and spoilage.
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