Beef can be contaminated during the slaughter process, thus other methods, besides the traditional water washing, must be adopted to preserve meat safety. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of three concentrations of acetic acid interventions (0.5%, 1 and 1.5%) on the reduction of indicator bacteria on beef carcasses at a commercial slaughterhouse in Egypt without removing of debris and organic matters. Reduction was measured by total Aerobic Count (TAC), anaerobic count, Staphylococcus aureus count, coliform count, (log CFU/ cm2) as well as isolation of Salmonella and E-coli O157:H7. Among the different interventions tested, treatments using 1% acetic acid concentration following three processing steps cattle receiving, carcass washing and final wash had reduced numbers of bacteria on carcasses but higher concentrations of acids required for effectiveness. Acetic acid solution sprayed after carcass washing can be successfully used to control indicator bacteria on beef carcasses under commercial conditions. |
