Dan Sabo leads a project that’s playing a critical role in food safety across the poultry industry. Stephanie Richter, host of the podcast, notes that Dan has become an invaluable resource not only for his technical expertise, but also for his ability to “translate” complex chemistry into practical solutions for the industry.

Dan explains that the current project stems from an industry need identified back in 2019. “Our industry partners within poultry processing came to [GTRI’s] ATRP program with a problem,” Dan says. Processors were seeing PAA, a key antimicrobial chemical, decompose faster than expected in immersion chillers — massive water tanks where poultry carcasses are cooled and sanitized. In these chillers, a complex mix of fats, oils, proteins, and minerals creates a challenging environment for maintaining stable PAA concentrations.