Lung-Wen Antony Chen (Environmental and Global Health) and colleagues published an article on "Mild Thermal Inactivation Kinetics of Uropathogenic Escherichia coli in Sugarcane Juice: Model Validation under Dilution and Acidification Conditions" in the journal Food and Bioprocess Technology.

Sugarcane juice represents one of the freshly prepared fruit juices associated with the presence of uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC), which is the major causative agent for foodborne urinary tract infections. This study established a model to predict survival of UPEC in sugarcane juice and sugarcane juice supplemented with citric acid under different heating temperatures. The model guides the development of practicable heat treatment conditions to ensure the microbiological safety of sugarcane juice in both retail and consumer settings.