The present invention relates to a method of using an antimicrobial composition on a food product where the antimicrobial composition is applied to a food product, the food product is packaged and sealed, and then activation energy is applied to the sealed food product.

A method for preparing meat jerky is provided. A whole slab of raw meat is sliced into multiple whole, single slices of meat. A marinade is prepared including dark brown sugar, liquid smoke, worcestershire sauce, clover honey, a hot sauce, and a teriyaki sauce. The whole, single slices of meat are marinated for a predetermined amount of time and temperature in a refrigerator. The marinated whole, single slices of meat are flavored with one of multiple flavoring agents, for example, black pepper, cayenne pepper, jalapeno pepper, sriracha, lemon pepper, garlic, herbs, a barbeque spice blend powder, etc., to obtain the corresponding flavoring agent flavor. The marinated and flavored whole, single slices of meat are cooked in a cooking appliance at a predetermined temperature for a predetermined amount of time. The cooked whole, single slices of meat are then cooled to room temperature to produce whole, single slices of meat jerky.

A method for preparing a shelf-stable, high-moisture food product is disclosed, including drying the pre-pasteurized food item to a water activity between 0.86 and 0.94; and vacuum packing the dried food item in an oxygen impermeable and water-impermeable membrane.

A production method for room-temperature cooked stinky mandarin fish is provided, including processing processes of marinated stinky mandarin fish, such as thawing, cleaning and dicing, soaking antimicrobic, de-fishy and freshness-preserving, low-temperature air drying, frying for shaping, and sterilizing, thereby obtaining the room-temperature cooked stinky mandarin fish product. The method combines soaking antimicrobic with mild heat treatment, which has a good microbial killing effect, and prolongs shelf-life of the cooked stinky mandarin fish, which can be stored at room-temperature for 9 months, and processing quality is significantly improved. The method innovates de-fishy and freshness-preserving preparation and process, a moisture content and water holding capacity of the product increased by 9.32% and 17.84%, respectively. The safety quality of the cooked stinky mandarin fish during storage process is improved, such as a content of TBA in fifth month under a storage condition of 30 C. is significantly reduced by 43.39%.