DESPITE THE COMMON ASSUMPTION THAT LOW MOISTURE FOODS (LMF) ARE MICROBIOLOGICALLY SAFE, SALMONELLA SPP. CONTAMINATION IN LMF HAS OCCURRED TIME AND TIME AGAIN. THIS IS PARTICULARLY CONCERNING BECAUSE THE LONG SHELF-LIFE OF LMF AND ENHANCED SURVIVAL OF SALMONELLA SPP. IN LMF ALLOWS CONTAMINATED LMF TO SIT ON CONSUMERS' SHELVES FOR A LONG TIME AND CAUSE FUTURE INFECTIONS THAT ARE DIFFICULT TO TRACE BACK. IN ADDITION TO THESE CLEAR HEALTH RISKS, THE FOOD INDUSTRY SUFFERS SIGNIFICANT COSTS FROM HANDLING FOODBORNE ILLNESS OUTBREAKS. THE LIMITATIONS OF CURRENTLY AVAILABLE LMF INTERVENTION TECHNOLOGIES AND STRICT REQUIREMENTS OF THE FSMA PREVENTIVE CONTROLS RULE LEAVE FOOD PROCESSORS WITH FEW CHOICES FOR CONTROLLING PATHOGEN CONTAMINATION IN LMF.THE INTRODUCTION OF GASEOUS TECHNOLOGIES (GT) AS AN INTERVENTION TECHNOLOGY FOR LMF WILL PROVIDE ADDITIONAL FLEXIBILITY IN CONTROLLING PERSISTENT FOODBORNE PATHOGENS. HOWEVER, GT PROCESSES MUST BE CONTROLLED PROPERLY TO MINIMIZE RESIDUE/BYPRODUCTFORMATION. THEREFORE, THE OBJECTIVES OF THIS PROJECT ARE SPECIFICALLY FORMULATED TO PROVIDE A LIBRARY OF REFERENCES FOR UNDERSTANDING THE APPLICABILITY OF GT IN NUMEROUS LMF CATEGORIES. THE FOUR SUPPORTING OBJECTIVES ARE:PERFORM HEAD-TO-HEAD COMPARISONS OF THE ANTIMICROBIAL EFFICACY OF CLO2, H2O2, AND O3 IN IN SPICES (BLACK PEPPERCORNS), HERBS (DRIED OREGANO LEAVES), NUTS (WALNUT HALVES), AND INGREDIENTS (CHIA SEEDS).INVESTIGATE MICROBIOLOGICAL METHODS AND AN APPROPRIATE SURROGATE FOR SALMONELLA SPP. TREATED WITH GT TREATMENTS.DEVELOP AND VALIDATE A MULTISCALE MODELING FRAMEWORK FOR SIMULATING THE TRANSPORT OF GASES IN LMF UNDER VARIOUS PROCESS CONDITIONS TO AID IN INDUSTRIAL SCALE-UP OF GT.CONDUCT CHEMICAL ANALYSES FOR GASEOUS RESIDUES/BYPRODUCTS AND FOOD QUALITY ATTRIBUTES.THIS PROJECT ALSO HEAVILY INVOLVES INDUSTRIAL STAKEHOLDERS FROM GT EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURERS AND FOOD INGREDIENT SUPPLIERS/USERS TO ENSURE THAT THE COLLECTED DATA CAN BE USED FOR INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS.