Author
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SIRAGUSA, GREGORY |
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Submitted to: Journal of Food Safety
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal Publication Acceptance Date: 9/21/1995 Publication Date: N/A Citation: N/A Interpretive Summary: This paper reviews, in general terms, the effectiveness of carcass decontamination systems for red meat animal carcasses and research needs for the future to improve this technology. When comparing research on using organic acids as decontaminating agents, it is revealing that despite great differences in experimental designs and parameters, the results are remarkably similar, i.e., organic acids effect about a 1-2 log10 reduction in bacterial counts. In the case of water and hot water, results are similar. Chlorine has been shown to be relatively ineffective as an antimicrobial agent when sprayed directly on to the animal carcass surface. Nisin (a bactericidal protein or bacterioicin) used for processed cheeses) was shown to reduce the levels of spoilage and model pathogenic bacteria by more than 3 log10 units on beef carcass tissue. Currently, the use of bacteriocins as carcass decontaminating agents is not tallowed by the federal government. In order for these agents to be used, more work needs to address the extremely high cost of the reagents as well as expanding the range of bacteria that are killed by these agents and gaining approval for use in meat processing. Technical Abstract: The effectiveness of carcass decontamination systems for controlling the presence of pathogens and microbial contamination is discussed. Examples of research using organic acids and water in carcass spray washers demonstrate the general effectiveness of such treatments in lowering the aerobic microbial counts on carcasses by 1-2 log10 cfu per unit area. From published reports, chlorine, overall, has been found to be relatively ineffective for use in red meat animal carcass spray washers. An example of direct application of the bacteriocin nisin to inoculated tissue in a spray washer is discussed. Log reductions attributable to nisin were 2-2.5 log10 cfu per unit area higher than those reported for various organic acids or water washing regimens. Areas for further research are highlighted along with the potential use of newer technologies to elucidate attachment and detachment mechanisms of bacteria to meat animal carcasses. |
