I am a Research Microbiologist in the Meat Safety and Quality Research Unit at the Roman L Hruska US Meat Animal Research Center located in Clay Center, Nebraska. I lead the USDA-ARS funded project titled “Holistic tactics to advance the microbiological safety and quality of the red meat continuum” which focuses on control of pathogens and spoilage organisms in beef, veal, pork and lamb.

My research program aims to respond to the current needs of the meat industry and regulatory agencies. As such I have a long-standing research program directed at improving rapid detection of pathogen contamination of meat products. I have also been examining how pathogens like E. coli and Salmonella can persist in a processing environment inside biofilms.

My laboratory also examines other interesting groups of E. coli: extremely heat and stress resistant E. coli that can resist processing interventions; and colibactin producing E. coli which have been linked to colorectal cancer.

Most recently I have been a member of a team awarded a national rapid response grant to study the impact of SARS-CoV-2 on meat production.

I publish under my given name of Joseph M Bosilevac and have 100+ publications including popular press articles and book chapters.

Mick will be presenting during the Meat Safety Interventions at Harvest Session and discuss
hazard-based thermal and chemical interventions for beef and pigs.

I plan to speak from my experience in the USA controlling pathogens in red meat using time tested methods as well as new cutting-edge technologies under development. I hope the students will benefit from this information and appreciate the perspectives of our meat industries and regulatory agencies I share.