Efficacy of Common Antimicrobial Interventions at and above Regulatory Allowable Pick-Up Levels on Pathogen Reduction

The objective of this study was to evaluate the food safety efficacy of common antimicrobial interventions at and above required uptake levels for processing aids on the reduction of Shiga-toxin producing E. coli (STEC) and Salmonella spp. through spray and dip applications. Beef trim was inoculated with specific isolates of STEC or Salmonella strains. Trim was intervened with peracetic or lactic acid through spray or dip application. Meat rinses were serially diluted and plated following the drop dilution method; an enumerable range of 2–30 colonies was used to report results before log transformation. The combination of all treatments exhibits an average reduction rate of 0.16 LogCFU/g for STEC and Salmonella spp., suggesting that for every 1% increase in uptake there is an increase of 0.16 LogCFU/g of reduction rate. There is a statistical significance in the reduction rate of Shiga-toxin producing Escherichia coli in relation to the uptake percentage (p < 0.01). The addition of explanatory variables increases the R2 of the regression for STEC, where all the additional explanatory variables are statistically significant for reduction (p < 0.01). The addition of explanatory variables increases the R2 of the regression for Salmonella spp., but only trim type is statistically significant for reduction rate (p < 0.01). An increase in uptake percentages showed a significant increase in reduction rate of pathogens on beef trimmings.