Total Process Lethality as Related to Residual Catalase Activity in Cooked Chicken Breast

We investigated the effects of total process lethality on the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide, presumably due to catalase activity. Ground chicken breast meat was heated to various end‐point temperatures (EPTs) in 10 heating treatments varying heating time and rate. Within each treatment, residual catalase activity was affected by the product EPT. However, samples heated to the same EPT under different treatments retained less enzymatic activity as heating time increased. Total process lethality was calculated to assess the severity of heating at each EPT under each heating condition. Residual enzymatic activity was directly related to the total lethality.