Modeling the Surface Cross-Contamination of Salmonella spp. on Ready-to-Eat Meat via Slicing Operation

Salmonella spp. surface transfer patterns/models between ready-to-eat (RTE) deli meat and a typical meat slicer are presented. A five-strain cocktail of Salmonella spp. was inoculated directly onto the rim of a round slicer blade at an initial level of ca. 4, 5, 6, 7 or 8 log CFU/blade (ca. 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7 log CFU/cm of the blade edge area). Thereafter, a RTE deli meat (ham) was sliced to a thickness of 1.5 2.0 mm. In another cross-contamination scenario, a clean blade was initially used to slice ham, which was pre-surface-inoculated with the Salmonella cocktail (ca. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7 log CFU/cm with a total area of 100 cm), followed by slicing of an un-inoculated ham. The log CFU of Salmonella per ham slice was determined and empirical models were developed. The models, follow the decreasing Power law, predict the surface cross-contamination of Salmonella spp. (at any initial level) for sliced deli meat (ham) and will provide a useful tool in developing RTE meat risk assessments. Surface transfer patterns of three foodborne pathogens, i.e. Listeria monocytogenes, E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella predicted by models are also presented.