Browsing by Author "Kuehl, Lillian M."

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    Application of Time-Temperature Indicators and Time Temperature Data Loggers in the Seafood Industry
    Lane, Robert M.; Love, David C.; Kuehl, Lillian M.; Hudson, Bobbi (Virginia Cooperative Extension, 2019-09-05)
    Discusses some ways that time temperature data loggers and time-temperature indicators can help the seafood industry protect against risks, save money, and maintain the integrity, quality, and safety of products.
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    Performance and conduct of supply chains for United States farmed oysters
    Love, David C.; Lane, Robert M.; Kuehl, Lillian M.; Hudson, Bobbi; Harding, Jamie; Clancy, Kate; Fry, Jillian P. (2020-01-15)
    Farmed oysters are one of the most valuable aquacultured products in the United States (U.S.), are highly perishable, and increasingly shipped live year-round. Supply chain actors must work together to bring refrigerated oysters to market quickly, while maintaining product value, safety and traceability information. In light of these demands, this study assesses the performance and conduct of supply chains for U.S. farmed oysters (Crassostrea virginica, C. gigas). Over the two-year study period, we conducted interviews with 56 businesses and tracked 125 oyster shipments from two major growing regions in the U.S. through six different types of supply chains. We hypothesized that direct and intermediated supply chains would perform differently in terms of timeto-market, product temperature in cold chains, compliance with temperature regulations, and modeled risks from Vibrio parahaemolyticus. Intermediated supply chains, by their definition have more connections than direct supply chains, and we found this introduces a longer time-to-market and a higher incidence of time and temperature abuse. However, these factors did not lead to greater modeled V. parahaemolyticus risks. Participants in both direct and intermediated supply chains were aware of the importance of traceability and felt uniformly positive about their ability to perform recalls. A common concern was the speed of government-imposed recalls, which can be declared by regulators after the affected live oysters are consumed. Members of these supply chains play different roles in maintaining the cold chain, possess different levels of information related to traceability, and describe different levels of trust with other supply chain actors. This paper contributes to a growing body of knowledge on supply chains for seafood and their critical, and sometimes overlooked, role in larger food systems.
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    Performance of cold chains and modeled growth of Vibrio parahaemolyticus for farmed oysters distributed in the United States and internationally
    Love, David C.; Kuehl, Lillian M.; Lane, Robert M.; Fry, Jillian P.; Harding, Jamie; Davis, Benjamin J. K.; Clancy, Kate; Hudson, Bobbi (2020-01-16)
    Vibrio bacteria can accumulate in molluscan shellfish and cause human diseases. The United States (U.S.) has implemented Vibrio Control Plans to mitigate risks associated with these bacteria, which include time and temperature requirements for post-harvest processing and maintaining an unbroken cold chain In this study, we tracked the performance of cold chains for U.S. farmed oysters distributed nationally and internationally using temperature sensors. Boxes and bags of oysters (n = 125) were shipped from farms in Washington State and the Chesapeake Bay to 143 unique businesses in 20 U.S. states, Washington D.C., and Hong Kong, China. Eighty-one percent of the temperature sensors were returned with usable data. The average product temperature among all participants was 4.4 +/- 2.7 degrees C (40 +/- 5 degrees F), which is 5.6 degrees C (10 degrees F) cooler than the 10 degrees C (50 degrees F) guidance criterium established by the U.S. government. There were spikes in temperature in some shipments: 18% of shipments (16/91) experienced oyster temperatures above 10 degrees C for one hour or more, and the median time spent out of temperature control was 2.5 h. We modeled V. parahaemolyticus abundance using temperature sensor data and 75% (68/91) of shipments had a net decrease in V. parahaemolyticus abundance in the cold chain. There are opportunities for improvements in cold chain performance in the shellfish industry and related businesses. In the discussion we provide recommendations for oyster producers related to product cooling, for businesses that handle shellfish, and for government and industry groups to develop guidance for shipping by air, among other issues.