title: Decontamination of beef subprimal cuts intended for blade tenderization or moisture enhancement.
abstract: The prevalence of Escherichia coli O157:H7 on beef subprimal cuts intended for mechanical tenderization was evaluated. This evaluation was followed by the assessment of five antimicrobial interventions at minimizing the risk of transferring E. coli O157:H7 to the interior of inoculated subprimal cuts during blade tenderization (BT) or moisture enhancement (ME). Prevalence of E. coli O157:H7 on 1,014 uninoculated beef subprimals collected from six packing facilities was 0.2%. Outside round pieces inoculated with E. coli O157:H7 at 10(4) CFU/100 cm2 were treated with (i) no intervention, (ii) surface trimming, (iii) hot water (82 degrees C), (iv) warm 2.5% lactic acid (55 degrees C), (v) warm 5.0% lactic acid (55 degrees C), or (vi) 2% activated lactoferrin followed by warm 5.0% lactic acid (55 degrees C) and then submitted to BT or ME. Prevalence (n=196) of internalized (BT and ME) E. coli O157:H7 was 99%. Enumeration of E. coli 0157:H7 (n=192) revealed mean surface reductions of 0.93 to 1.10 log CFU/100 cm2 for all antimicrobial interventions. E. coli O157:H7 was detected on 3 of the 76 internal BT samples and 73 of the 76 internal ME samples. Internal ME samples with no intervention had significantly higher mean E. coli O157:H7 populations than did those internal samples treated with an intervention, but there were no significant differences in E. coli O157:H7 populations among internal BT samples. Results of this study demonstrate that the incidence of E. coli O157:H7 on the surface of beef subprimal cuts is low and that interventions applied before mechanical tenderization can effectively reduce the transfer of low concentrations of E. coli O157:H7 to the interior of beef subprimal cuts.
authors.affiliation: Center for Red Meat Safety, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523-1171, USA.
authors.forename: C E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Heller
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Scanga
authors.forename: J N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Sofos
authors.forename: K E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Belk
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Warren-Serna
authors.forename: G R
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Bellinger
authors.forename: R T
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Bacon
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Rossman
authors.forename: G C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Smith
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D003257:Consumer Product Safety; D004202:Disinfectants / Q000494:pharmacology*; D019453:Escherichia coli O157 / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development*; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000032:analysis / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005511:Food Handling / Q000379:methods*; D005516:Food Microbiology; D006801:Humans; D008460:Meat / Q000382:microbiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012499:Sanitation / Q000379:methods
chemical_list: D004202:Disinfectants