99D-36 |
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L. L. Williams, C. HOWARD, and D. L. Byrd. Dept. of Food & Animal Sciences, Alabama A&M Univ., Food Microbiology & Immunochemistry Lab., PO Box 1628, Normal, AL 35762 Although the U.S. has some of the safest foods in the world, recent outbreaks of E. coli O157:H7 and L. monocytogenes are alarming signals. Recent studies have examined the effectiveness of organic acids to reduce microbial surface counts in several ground meat products, however research examining efficacy of sanitizers on ground rabbit meat is limited. The objective of this study is to assess the efficacy of lactic acid in reducing pathogenic bacteria on ground rabbit at 3 and 7 days of vacuum storage. Thirty-six ground rabbit meat (6 cm dia x 0.3 cm height) samples were dipped into an inoculum of L. monocytogenes, E. coli O157:H7 and S. typhimurium. Meat Samples were sanitized by dipping in lactic acid (0.5 and 1.0%) for 15 or 30 s at 55°C, vacuum packaged and stored at 4°C for 0, 3 and 7 days. At 3 and 7 d of storage, samples were homogenized and plated onto modified oxford agar for L. monocytogenes; Sorbitol MacConkey Agar supplemented with cefixime and tellurite for E. coli O157:H7 and Bismuth Sulfite Agar for S. typhimurium. Lactic acid at concentrations of 0.5 and 1% resulted in a significant reduction (p<0.05) in counts of L. monocytogenes, E. coli O157:H7 and S. typhimurium attached to the ground meat throughout the storage period. At 3 and 7 days of storage, significant differences were observed between the control and both treatments (0.5 and 1%) for E. coli O157:H7. However, no significant difference (P>0.05) were observed between 0.5% and 1% lactic acid treatment at three days for Listeria monocytogenes. After 7 days of storage, 1% lactic acid inhibited the growth of L. monocytogenes and E. coli O157:H7, resulting in a 1.7 and 1.95 log10 reduction, respectively. These results indicate that lactic acid may be effective in reducing pathogenic bacteria in ground rabbit meat.
Session 99D, Food Microbiology: General
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