Murray’s Chicken has introduced Turkey and Chicken Sliders. Murray’s are the only poultry sliders in the U.S. made from antibiotic-free and hormone-free fresh chicken raised on family farms.

Murray’s mini ground chicken and turkey burger sliders were created from a favorite family recipe and combine fresh, all-natural poultry with a proprietary blend of sea salt, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and cayenne pepper. Murray’s 15-ounce package contains six mini-burgers.

“Our sliders are also perfect for grocery chains, specialty stores, gourmet food shops and health food stores, as well. Consumers now have a new, delicious and healthy option that can be enjoyed year round at any event,” said Steve Gold, vice president, sales & marketing.

Source: Murray’s Chicken

68 pounds of ground beef recalled in Vermont

Harrington and Sons, a Williston, Vt., establishment, is recalling approximately 68 pounds of fresh ground beef products that may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service announced.

The products subject to recall include 1.5-pound and 10-pound cryovaced packages of "LaPlatte River Angus Farm, LLC Natural Ground Beef." Each package label bears the establishment number "EST. 8751" inside the USDA mark of inspection as well as the identifying case code "093491."

The products were produced on December 15, 2009, and were distributed to restaurants and a retail establishment in Chittenden County, Vt. This recall is a consequence of the establishment not properly defining the production lot. The problem was discovered through FSIS microbiological sampling. FSIS has received no reports of illnesses associated with consumption of these products.

Source: FSIS

High-pressure processing consortium formed

The National Center for Food Safety and Technology (NCFST), Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT), a leading food research institute in high pressure processing (HPP) technology, announced that it has formed a new HPP working group to drive forward scientific advances and commercial applications for industry. NCFST is inviting food packaging and product companies interested in capitalizing on this business development enterprise to join as members.

The formation of the NCFST High Pressure Research Consortium (HPRC) follows a successful seven-year, industry-supported collaborative Dual Use Science and Technology (DUST) consortium that resulted in development of a novel food sterilization technology, pressure assisted thermal sterilization (PATS). The promising advanced HPP-based technology utilizes high pressure to produce temperatures that ensure the production of commercially sterile low-acid food products while significantly improving food-quality attributes. PATS was accepted in February 2009 by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a new alternative to commercially sterilize low-acid canned food products.

“Over the past 10 years, the use of extreme hydrostatic pressure has gained commercial viability as an alternative preservation method for foods, improving both the safety and quality of many products,” says Larry Keener, NCFST’s process authority and president of Seattle-based International Product Safety Consultants. “PATS is a major step in the evolution of HPP-based sterilization. Based on this success, NCFST’s High Pressure Research Consortium aims to drive more significant step-change in this evolution by creating a new platform for product innovation and value creation in the food industry.”

Source: NCFST