Meat Safety News Digest

Enhancing the thermal destruction of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in ground beef patties using trans-cinnamaldehyde Trans-cinnamaldehyde (TC) is an active antimicrobial substance extracted from the spice cinnamon which offers meat processors a labelfriendly, non-artificial sanitising agent. The effectiveness of TC in the inactivation of the foodborne pathogen Escherichia coli 0157:H7 in undercooked ground (minced) beef patties was examined in this study. A mixture of five separate strains of E. coli 0157:H7 were applied to ground beef samples, along with the TC cinnamon extract. Meat patties were formed and stored at 4 degrees C for 5 days or at -18 degrees C for 7 days. Subsequently, the patties were cooked to an internal temperature of 60-65 degrees C, and the number of viable E. coli 0157:H7 bacteria determined. The numbers of E. coli 0157:H7 did not decrease during storage, however after cooking, patties containing TC had significantly reduced E. coli 0157:H7 counts by greater than 100,000 cells per gram. Trans-cinnamaldehyde (TC) therefore reduced the heat tolerance of E. coli 0157:H7 and could be used as an antimicrobial agent to facilitate the inactivation of illness-causing bacteria in undercooked meat patties. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=Articl eURL&_udi=B6WFP-508FKRG1&_user=10&_coverDate=09%2F30%2F2010&_r doc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_origin=search &_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_acct=C000050 221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md 5=bfb68eb7ea09096147af2b5a5347eba9&searc htype=a