Evaluation of post-fermentation heating times and temperatures for controlling Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli cells in a non-dried, pepperoni-type sausage

Coarse ground meat was mixed with non-meat ingredients and starter culture (Pediococcus acidilactici) and then inoculated with an 8-strain cocktail of Shiga toxinproducing Escherichia coli (ca. 7.0 log CFU/g). Batter was fine ground, stuffed into fibrous casings, and fermented at 35.6°C and ca. 85% RH to a final target pH of ca. pH 4.6 or ca. pH 5.0. After fermentation, the pepperoni- like sausage were heated to target internal temperatures of 37.8°, 43.3°, 48.9°, and 54.4°C and held for 0.5 to 12.5 h. Regardless of the heating temperature, the endpoint pH in products fermented to a target pH of pH 4.6 and pH 5.0 was pH 4.56±0.13 (range of pH 4.20 to pH 4.86) and pH 4.96±0.12 (range of pH 4.70 to pH 5.21), respectively. Fermentation alone delivered ca. a 0.3- to 1.2-log CFU/g reduction in pathogen numbers. Fermentation to ca. pH 4.6 or ca. pH 5.0 followed by post-fermentation heating to 37.8° to 54.4°C and holding for 0.5 to 12.5 h generated total reductions of ca. 2.0 to 6.7 log CFU/g

After-School ProgramsCommunity Perceptions Influencing Involvement

We found that participants were in favor of after-school programs and we also found that they think after-school programs were beneficial. Even though we didn’t specifically ask the participant “what part of development do you think after-school programs benefit a child or adolescent,” we think it is safe to infer that the participants view after-school programs and/or activities as beneficial to development in general. Future research is still needed to evaluate future improvements that can be made in after-school programs

Assessment of the Readability of Genetic Counseling Patient Letters.

Patient letters are a powerful tool that genetic counselors use to communicate with their patients. Patient letters are often sent to provide information on a new diagnosis, reiterate test results, and to serve as a permanent record of the visit. Patient letters, however, are only helpful if the patients can understand them. More than 50 % of the US population reads below a 9th grade reading level and over one-third of the population has low health literacy skills. In this study we evaluate the readability of genetic counseling patient letters by assessing reading level, image use, and terminology use. One hundred forty-nine genetic counselors participated in the survey and of these, 79 submitted a sample patient letter. Analyses of the letters revealed a mean reading level of 10.93. On average, 6 genetic terms were included in each letter, and only 25 % of these terms were defined. Analyses of survey responses revealed over 75 % of the genetic counselors did not include images in their patient letters. These results indicate there is room for improvement in order to make genetic counseling patient letters more accessible to the general population. J Genet Couns 2016 Jun; 25(3):454-6