Effects of preparation methods on the microbiological safety of home-dried meat jerky.
Historically, drying meats to produce jerky was conisidered to be a safe preservation process and the convenience and flavor of jerky has made it a popular food product for home food preservers. Recent outbreaks of foodborne illness related to both home-dried and commercially manufactured jerky have raised concerns about the safety of the product. Some traditional home recipes and drying processes were shown to be inadequate to destroy Escherichia coli O157, Salmonella, Staphylococcus aureus, and Listeria monocytogenes in both whole-muscle and ground-meat jerky. Several research studies have identified processes such as precooking meats before drying, usingacidic marinades, cooking meats after drying, or some combination of these treatments that can destroy pathogens of concern to produce microbiologically safe and palatable meat jerky at home.
Nummer
Brian A
BA
Department of Foods and Nutrition, University of Georgia, USA. bnummer@uga.edu
Harrison
Judy A
JA
Harrison
Mark A
MA
Kendall
Patricia
P
Sofos
John N
JN
Andress
Elizaibeth L
EL
D000818:Animals; D003258:Consumer Behavior; D003257:Consumer Product Safety; D019453:Escherichia coli O157 / Q000254:growth & development; D005511:Food Handling / Q000379:methods*; D005519:Food Preservation / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008089:Listeria monocytogenes / Q000254:growth & development; D008461:Meat Products / Q000382:microbiology*; D012475:Salmonella / Q000254:growth & development; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000254:growth & development