Microbiological Status of Fresh Beef Cuts

Abstract

Fresh beef samples (n = 1,022) obtained from two processing plants in the Midwest (July to December 2003) were analyzed for levels of microbial populations (total aerobic plate count, total coliform count, and Escherichia coli count) and for the presence or absence of E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella. A fresh beef cut sample was a 360-g composite of 6-g portions excised from the surface of 60 individual representative cuts in a production lot. Samples of fresh beef cuts yielded levels of 4.0 to 6.2, 1.1 to 1.8, and 0.8 to 1.0 log CFU/g for total aerobic plate count, total coliform count, and E. coli count, respectively. There did not appear to be substantial differences or obvious trends in bacterial populations on different cuts. These data may be useful in establishing a baseline or a benchmark of microbiological levels of contamination of beef cuts. Mean incidence rates of E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella on raw beef cuts were 0.3 and 2.2%, respectively. Of the 1,022 samples analyzed, cuts testing positive for E. coli O157:H7 included top sirloin butt (0.9%) and butt, ball tip (2.1%) and for Salmonella included short loins (3.4%), strip loins (9.6%), rib eye roll (0.8%), shoulder clod (3.4%), and clod, top blade (1.8%). These data provide evidence of noticeable incidence of pathogens on whole muscle beef and raise the importance of such contamination on product that may be mechanically tenderized. Levels of total aerobic plate count, total coliform count, and E. coli count did not (P > or = 0.05) appear to be associated with the presence of E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella on fresh beef cuts. E. O157:H7 was exclusively isolated from cuts derived from the sirloin area of the carcass. Salmonella was exclusively isolated from cuts derived from the chuck, rib, and loin areas of the carcass. Results of this study suggest that contamination of beef cuts may be influenced by the region of the carcass from which they are derived.

Evaluation of Microbial Load of Beef of Arsi Cattle in Adama Town, Oromia, Ethiopia

“…The mean total coliform count in fresh carcass sample was 5.3×10 1 cfu/g. This finding is in agreement with Eisel et al and Stopforth et al [33,36] that reported 2.5×10 1 -1.58×10 3 cfu/g and 1.2×10 1 -6.3×10 1 cfu/g for total coliform count in fresh beef samples, respectively. The present finding's figure is much lower than 4.4×10 3 -4.8×10 5 cfu/g reported by Mezgebu and Mogessie [26].…”

Prevalence and Characterization of Salmonella in Bovine Lymph Nodes Potentially Destined for Use in Ground Beef†

“…If Salmonella had been present, as in the present study, it would have been a food safety concern. Salmonella prevalence has been reported as 2.2% on fresh beef cuts, with a range of 0 to 9.6% depending on the type of cut (21). In the present study, the prevalence of Salmonella within lymph nodes was approximately the same as that on the surface tissue of intact beef cuts.…”

A concurrent diagnosis of microbiological food safety output and food safety management system performance: Cases from meat processing industries

“…In such analysis, the basic assumption is that data on the microbiological analysis will show which changes in food safety activities need improvement. However, there is restricted insight in the actual activities in the FSMS (Kvenberg & Schwalm, 2000;Stopforth, Lopes, Shultz, Miksch, & Samadpour, 2006;Byrne, Lyng, Dunne, & Bolton, 2008). The other type focuses on analysing the activities in an implemented FSMS against preset requirements with the assumption that when activities are properly executed this will result in a good food safety output.…”