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For whatever the reason the levels of E. coli O157 have remained high. There are plenty
of data that shows the efficacy of hide interventions in reducing the E. coli O157 load on hides as
well as in the resultant trim. However, for variety of reasons the vast majority of the plants are
unable to include a hide wash cabinet in their food safety systems. The challenge is to come up
with an effective system that reduces the transfer of E. coli O157 during dressing. The objective
of this proposal is to evaluate the efficacy of a number of compounds that have shown to be
efficacious toward hide E. coli O157 when used in the plant on the pattern lines prior to dressing. <P>
Objective:
To evaluate the efficacy of, Acetic acid, Lactic Acid, Bromitize and hot water as applied
to pattern lines to reduce the E. coli O157:H7 load.
Findings: The results show that pattern lines interventions is effective in reducing pathogen and that for plants that cannot implement an automated hide wash system this represented an effective step in a mutli-hurdle food safety system.