Evaluation of Antimicrobial Interventions against E. coli O157:H7 on the Surface of Raw Beef to Reduce Bacterial Translocation during Blade Tenderization.

Peter Muriana,Jacob Nelson,Brad Morgan,Jackie Eager,Brent Wellings,Kalpana Kushwaha

doi:10.3390/foods8020080

Peter Muriana, Jacob Nelson + Show 4 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/foods8020080

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Abstract

The US Department of Agriculture, Food Safety Inspection Service (USDA-FSIS) considers mechanically-tenderized beef as “non-intact” and a food safety concern because of the potential for translocation of surface Escherichia coli O157:H7 into the interior of the meat that may be cooked “rare or medium-rare” and consumed. We evaluated 14 potential spray interventions on E. coli O157:H7-inoculated lean beef wafers (~106 CFU/cm2, n = 896) passing through a spray system (18 s dwell time, ~40 pounds per square inch, PSI) integrated into the front end of a Ross TC-700MC tenderizer. Inoculated and processed beef wafers were stomached with D/E neutralizing broth and plated immediately, or were held in refrigerated storage for 1-, 7-, or 14-days prior to microbial enumeration. Seven antimicrobials that showed better performance in preliminary screening on beef wafers were selected for further testing on beef subprimals in conjunction with blade tenderization. Boneless top sirloin beef subprimals were inoculated at ~2 × 104 CFU/cm2 with a four-strain cocktail of E. coli O157:H7 and passed once, lean side up, through an integrated spray system and blade tenderizer. Core samples obtained from each subprimal were examined for the presence/absence of E. coli O157:H7. The absence of E. coli O157:H7 in core samples correlated with the ability of the antimicrobials to reduce bacterial levels on the surface of beef prior to blade tenderization.

Highlights

Beef is a desirable food staple in the United States and consumer expectations for product quality, consistency, and tenderness have always been a high priority by the US beef industry [1]
This study focuses on the use of an integrated tenderizer-spray system to examine various antimicrobials to inhibit E. coli O157:H7 on the surface of lean beef wafers to mimic the surface of intact beef prior to blade tenderization
Our data show that the implementation of antimicrobial spray interventions can result in a reduced risk of translocated E. coli O157:H7 to interior sections

Summary

Introduction

Beef is a desirable food staple in the United States and consumer expectations for product quality, consistency, and tenderness have always been a high priority by the US beef industry [1]. In complying with these priorities, numerous approaches have been implemented in order to make beef a more palatable and enjoyable consumer experience. These include methods to provide proper feed rations such as grain-fed cattle that produce better marbling than grass-fed cattle [2]. Studies have shown that mechanical tenderization does result in the improvement of meat tenderness [3,4,5,6,7] and it has been estimated that over 90% of hotel, restaurant, and institutional operations use beef that has been blade tenderized [8].

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