Microbial contamination of food is a concern to both food producers and consumers. For the food production industry surface sampling of foods is one of the simplest ways to monitor the microbial load. The objective of this experiment was to investigate the feasibility of using the less expensive and quicker “Pop‐up” tape method instead of the conventional swab/rinse method for the microbial sampling of meat surfaces. An analyst can place the unit on the wrist and then use both hands to lay out all the necessary materials and take the sample with one hand. The “Pop‐up” tape method was able to measure microbial loads up to 2.2 log CFU/cm2 on meat surfaces. The conventional swab/rinse method was able to measure up to 8.3 log CFU/cm2 on meat surfaces. The correlation coefficient (R) between the two methods was 0.91 (n=42). These data show that the “Pop‐up” tape method is a viable alternative to other methods for estimating microbial surface contamination.
Effectiveness of a water soaking, salting, and water rinsing (koshering) process in reducing microbial counts was examined. Beef briskets (30) were sampled at four stages in the plant, viz. prewashing, postwashing, after 24 h chilling, and after koshering. Quantitative aerobic plate, coliforms, and Escherichia coli counts, and qualitative analysis for Salmonella were determined. PROC MIXED and GLM procedures were applied to determine statistical differences among least square means (LSM) at p#0.05. Microbial counts did not always decrease from prewashing to postwashing, after 24 h chilling, or after koshering but koshering reduced APC, coliforms, and E. coli from initial counts. Salmonella were also reduced.
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