Beef Safety Beef Decontamination Technologies

Introduction Beef carcasses, which are initially sterile, become contaminated with bacterial pathogens via transmission of organisms from the exterior of the live animal, and/or from the environment, to the product surface. Extensive contamination, or abusive conditions that allow bacteria to reproduce, increase risk for presence of pathogenic bacteria and formation of toxins in food (Sofos et al., 1999). Highly publicized outbreaks of foodborne disease since 1993, primarily caused by bacteria such as Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Listeria monocytogenes, elicited intense consumer concern about meat safety. In response, regulatory authorities, researchers, and the beef industry initiated efforts to implement food safety management systems to improve microbiological quality. To improve beef safety, the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) began initiating new regulatory requirements during the mid-1990s. Packers now must knife-trim carcasses to remove all visible contaminants, must comply with written sanitation standard operating procedures (SSOP), must have implemented hazard analysis critical control point (HACCP) systems, and must meet microbiological performance criteria and standards for Escherichia coli and Salmonella as a means to verify HACCP effectiveness and pathogen reduction. Researchers and beef packers/processors addressed consumer food safety concerns by developing a variety of methods that are now implemented, or are being further developed, to reduce numbers of bacteria on beef and improve microbiological safety (Sofos et al., 1999). These microbiological decontamination technologies include animal cleaning, chemical dehairing at slaughter, spot-cleaning of carcasses by knife-trimming or steam/hotwater vacuuming, and spraying/washing/rinsing of carcasses before evisceration and/or before chilling, with water, chemical solutions and/or steam or hot water. Research has demonstrated that such decontamination technologies are most effective when used in combination, sequentially, as “multiple hurdles” systems. Such systems improve regulatory compliance and enhance product safety (provided that processing and preparation for consumption also are performed using good hygiene practices) and are the topic here.