14 DAY TRIAL // Those old style English know very well why they respect tea time. That's quite important for their bacon-based diet...
As a recent research showed, a mix of green tea and honey is effective in decreasing pathogenic bacteria in meats. "Our results indicated that Jasmine tea with honey and green tea with honey had the highest antimicrobial activity," said lead researcher Daniel Fung, a Kansas State University food science professor.
The experiments made on a liquid medium revealed that the tea extract and honey induced significant reductions of Listeria monocytogenes and E. coli O157:H7 bacteria. Listeria is a potential dangerous bacterium also found on raw milk, ice cream, soft cheeses and raw/smoked fish. "In liquid medium, it's easier for the compounds to interact with the organisms in liquid." said Fung.
After that, the research team investigated on food, which can be a more difficult medium when looking to cause the type of reaction among the compounds that will inhibit pathogens. When they exposed turkey breast slices to Jasmine tea extract mixed with wildflower dark honey, the level of Listeria monocytogenes dropped by 10 to 20 % and the same percentage of pathogen reductions was found when they experimented on hot dogs.
The highest reductions in hot dogs pathogens occurred in those that had been commercially treated with sodium lactate, potassium lactate and sodium diacetate. "In that type of hot dogs, it has much more suppressive effect than in some of the hot dogs without those compounds. There is a synergistic effect of the tea and honey along with those compounds with lactate already in the hot dog." said Fung. "The experiments showed the hot dogs were still showing reduced levels of pathogens 14 days after the application", added Fung.
Fung sees tea as a healthier alternative to artificial preservatives for ready-to-eat meat and vegetables. "We're thinking of using tea to wash carcasses because of its natural compounds. If you can use tea or honey to wash carcasses instead of lactic acid, you can use a natural compound on the surface of meat."he said.