Reciprocal Meat Conference Abstracts

Pathogen Reductions during Traditional Fermentation and Drying of Pork Salamis

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Abstract

ObjectivesTraditionally-processed meat products produced without thermal processing are common in European countries and are increasing in popularity in the United States. Processors are met with the challenge of creating these high-quality products while ensuring food safety. The purpose of this study was to validate the safety of a process to produce a traditional fermented and dried salami. This experiment investigated the impact of casing type and an antimicrobial intervention on the survival of foodborne pathogens in a salami product made with minimal ingredients.Materials and MethodsPork butts were cubed and experimentally-inoculated with ∼8 log10 CFU/ml of 3 strains each of E. coli O157:H7 (EC), Salmonella spp. (S), and L. monocytogenes (LM). The cubes were either sprayed with water (CTRL) or a 2.5% antimicrobial solution (TRT) prior to grinding through a 6-mm plate. Dry ingredients and starter culture were thoroughly mixed into the ground pork before being stuffed into ∼50 mm natural, collagen, and fibrous casings (N = 192). The salamis were subjected to fermentation (72 h), drying (28 d), and packaging (28 d). Salami samples were collected every 24 h until the end of fermentation. During drying and packaging, salami sampes were collected weekly.ResultsThere was no significant difference between the CTRL and TRT sausages for bacteria populations for EC (p = 0.1645), S (p = 0.3746), or LM (p = 0.1762) for the 60 d sampling period. There was also no significant difference in bacteria reductions between casings types within each treatment (p > 0.05). Intitial levels of pathogens were 8.36, 8.40, and 8.72 log10 CFU/g for EC, S, and LM, respectively. Following the treatments, bacteria populations in CTRL sausages decreased by 3.20, 0.38, and 0.12 log10 CFU/g for EC, S, and LM, respectively. Bacteria populations decreased in TRT sausages decreased by 2.40, 0.34, and 0.19 log10 CFU/g for EC, S, and LM. Following fermentation and drying, EC populations decreased 1.50 to 3.19 log10 CFU/g; S populations decreased 3.03 to 3.45 log10 CFU/g; and LM populations decreased 2.69 to 4.56 log10 CFU/g in both CTRL and TRT sausages. A 5 log10 reduction was achieved for S and LM by the end of packaging, but a combination of treatment and casing type did not achieve a 5 log10 reduction of EC by the end of packaging.ConclusionThis study validated the safety of a fermented pork salami manufactured without a heat treatment or additional lethality steps following fermentation and drying for salamis produced in collagen and fibrous casings.

Keywords: salmonella, fermented sausage, L. monocytogenes, E. coli O157:H7, salami

How to Cite:

McKinney, S., Cutter, C. & Campbell, J., (2019) “Pathogen Reductions during Traditional Fermentation and Drying of Pork Salamis”, Meat and Muscle Biology 1(3). doi: https://doi.org/10.221751/rmc2017.122