A new way to detect microbes that contaminate fresh meat could be the answer the meat industry needs to meet new food safety regulations. Researchers from Iowa State and the United States Department of Agriculture teamed up to design the prototype, which has been awarded a 2000 R&D 100 award. This is the 22nd time Iowa State has won this award since 1984. Thomas Casey, Agricultural Research Service microbiologist and co-developer, said the award is given out by the magazine Research and Development once a year to the top 100 products that fit its criteria. “This award is a pretty big deal for us,” Casey said. “It means that someone else recognized our work as significant and important.” Casey, ARS microbiologist Mark Rasmussen and Associate Professor of Chemistry Jacob Petrich began working on the prototype three years ago. The prototype commercial device, called the SCAT scanner, is designed to detect any fecal contamination on fresh meat with the use of fluorescence. “We aren’t detecting bacteria directly. We are detecting another molecule in the feces, and the molecules are degradation products of chlorophyll, which are the green plant pigments responsible for photosynthesis,” Casey said. “Any [animal] that has eaten small amounts of green plant material will have this compound in its feces.” Casey and Rasmussen came up with the idea for the scanner because the current method of visually examining animal carcasses was insensitive and subject to human error. They approached Petrich to help them design the scanner because of his physical chemistry background and knowledge of fluorescence. “[Petrich] was a photochemist and did some good experiments. He did find a fluorescent compound in feces that we believe will be useful as a marker for fecal contamination, as opposed to the cultured methods for bacteria,” Casey said. Over the last few years, Rasmussen said they have talked to many large and small packers about the scanner, and, for the most part, they’ve received a favorable reception. “Their biggest question is when we can get it done and how they can work it into their production system,” Rasmussen said. He also said they have been working with a company in Florida called eMerge Interactive to engineer and design the machine to be used commercially. They are working on a small hand-held device to check small areas manually. Brian Gibb, director of business and development for eMerge Interactive, said they are also working on a full carcass scanning system that could be implemented in larger packing plants. They hope to have they system available within 12 to 18 months. The portable system will be completed within 18 to 24 months. “It’s too soon to say [how much they will cost], but it will definitely vary with the size of the system, the size of the packing plant and other variables,” Gibb said. For more information on the SCAT scanner, go to www.cattleinfonet.com