Evaluation of peroxyacetic acid as a potential pre-grinding treatment for control of Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Salmonella Typhimurium on beef trimmings

• Published in: Meat science 2005-05, Vol.70 (1), p.197-203
• Main Authors: Ellebracht, J.W., King, D.A., Castillo, A., Lucia, L.M., Acuff, G.R., Harris, K.B., Savell, J.W.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: acetic acid; antibacterial properties; bacterial contamination; Beef trimmings; Biological and medical sciences; Decontamination; dipping; E. coli O157:H7; Escherichia coli O157:H7; food contamination; Food industries; Food microbiology; food pathogens; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; grinding; ground beef; inoculum density; Lactic acid; Meat and meat product industries; pathogen survival; Peroxyacetic acid; plate count; raw meat; Salmonella Typhimurium; solutions; temperature; viability; washing; water
• ISSN: 0309-1740; 1873-4138
• DOI: 10.1016/j.meatsci.2005.01.003

Peroxyacetic acid was evaluated in four separate trials for ability to reduce populations of Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Salmonella serotype Typhimurium on fresh beef trim. Trial 1 examined the effectiveness of peroxyacetic acid on individual pieces of fresh beef trim. Trial 2 evaluated the efficacy of peroxyacetic acid at low levels of contamination on batches of fresh beef trim. Trial 3 studied a washing effect of water. Lastly, Trial 4 compared the effectiveness of peroxyacetic acid to lactic acid. At various inoculation levels, peroxyacetic acid reduced populations of both pathogens by approximately 1.0 log 10 CFU/cm 2 on fresh beef trim. Trial 3 showed that approximately half of the reductions found in Trials 1 and 2 were due to a washing effect of the water dip. In addition, as shown in Trial 1, increases in concentrations (>200 ppm) did not significantly increase log 10 reductions of both pathogens. Following a water dip in Trial 4, peroxyacetic acid caused a reduction of 0.7 log 10 CFU/cm 2 in E. coli O157:H7 and 1.0 log 10 CFU/cm 2 in Salmonella Typhimurium, whereas lactic acid caused a reduction of 1.3 log 10 CFU/cm 2 in E. coli O157:H7 and 2.1 log 10 CFU/cm 2 in S. Typhimurium following the water dip. These results show that peroxyacetic acid was not more effective than 2% l-lactic acid in reducing pathogens on fresh beef trim.