title: Predicting behavior of Staphylococcus aureus, salmonella serovars, and Escherichia coli O157: H7 in pork products during single and repeated temperature abuse periods.
abstract: Tools for predicting growth of Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella, and Escherichia coli O157:H7 (THERM; temperature history evaluation for raw meats) have been developed using ground pork and sausage. THERM tools have been tested with three types of pork sausage but not with other pork products or during sequential temperature abuse periods. We conducted inoculation studies (five strains each of S. aureus and/or Salmonella plus E. coli O157:H7) with simulated cooling of warm sausages, inprocess warming of bratwurst, isothermal temperature abuse of pork frankfurter batter, and two sequential periods of 13, 15.6, or 21.1 degrees C temperature abuse of breakfast sausage, natural (additive-free) chops, and enhanced (phosphate solution-injected) loins. In sequential temperature abuse studies, a temperature abuse period (> or =24 h) occurred before and after either refrigeration (5 degrees C for 24 h), or freezing (-20 degrees C for 24 h) and thawing (24 h at 5 degrees C). Pathogen growth predictions from THERM developed using ground pork and sausage were compared with experimental results of 0 to 3.0 log CFU of growth. Across all temperature abuse conditions, qualitative predictions (growth versus no growth) made using the pork tool (n = 133) and the sausage tool (n = 115) were accurate (51 and 50%, respectively), fail-safe (44 and 50%), or fail-dangerous (5 and 0%). Quantitative predictions from the two tools were accurate (29 and 22% , respectively), fail-safe (59 and 73%), or fail-dangerous (12 and 5%). Pathogen growth was greater during the second sequential temperature abuse period but not significantly so (P > 0.05). Both THERM tools provide useful qualitative predictions of pathogen growth in pork products during isolated or sequential temperature abuse events.
authors.affiliation: Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade & Consumer Protection, Division of Food Safety, Madison, Wisconsin 53708, USA.
authors.forename: Steven C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Ingham
authors.forename: Song
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vang
authors.forename: Ben
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Levey
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fahey
authors.forename: John P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Norback
authors.forename: Melody A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Fanslau
authors.forename: Andre G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Senecal
authors.forename: Greg M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Burnham
authors.forename: Barbara H
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Ingham
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D003257:Consumer Product Safety; D019453:Escherichia coli O157 / Q000254:growth & development*; D005511:Food Handling / Q000379:methods*; D005516:Food Microbiology; D006801:Humans; D007700:Kinetics; D008461:Meat Products / Q000382:microbiology*; D008954:Models, Biological; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012475:Salmonella / Q000254:growth & development*; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000254:growth & development*; D013552:Swine; D013696:Temperature