Tea Extract + Honey: Reduces Bacteria in Meats

Filed in archive Food and Agriculture , Microbiology on March 26, 2007

A mixture of green tea or jasmine tea extract and wildflower dark honey can be used to reduce pathogenic bacteria in meats.

Such were the findings of a research by the Food Safety Consortium at the Kansas State University led by food science professor Daniel Fung.

Treating turkey breast slice with combinations of Jasmine tea extract and wildflower dark honey reduced Listeria monocytogenes by 10 to 20 percent. Similar reductions of the pathogen were recorded when applied to hot dogs.

Study results indicate that Jasmine tea with honey and green tea with honey have the highest antimicrobial activity - indicating the use of the concoction as a natural treatment (instead of sodium lactate, potassium lactate and sodium diacetate normally used in hotdogs) to processed meats (even vegetables) to extend their shelf life.

Find more details from the full report.