Abstract:
Cattle are a reservoir for enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC), and ground beef is a major vehicle for human infection with EHEC. Heat resistance of E. coli, including EHEC, is impacted by NaCl and other additives. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of NaCl and other additives on the heat resistance of E. coli in beef patties. E. coli AW1.7ΔpHR1(pLHR) with the locus of heat resistance (LHR), E. coli AW1.7ΔpHR1(pRK767) without LHR, or a 5-strain cocktail of EHEC were inoculated (107-108 CFU/g) into ground beef (15% fat) with NaCl (0-3%), marinade, carvacrol (0.1%), potassium lactate (3%) or chitosan (0.1%) following different protocols. Patties were grilled immediately, or stored in sterile bags for two days at 4 °C prior to grilling to a core temperature of 71 °C. Cell counts of LHR-positive E. coli AW1.7ΔpHR1(pLHR) were higher than that of the isogenic LHR-negative E. coli AW1.7ΔpHR1(pRK767) by >3 log10 (CFU/g) after cooking. Addition of 3% NaCl increased survival of E. coli AW1.7ΔpHR1(pRK767) and the EHEC cocktail while cell counts of the heat resistant strains were not changed. A protective effect of NaCl was not observed with E. coli AW1.7ΔpHR1(pRK767) or EHEC if cells of E. coli were cooled to 4 °C prior to mixing with cold meat and NaCl, indicating that the response of E. coli to osmotic shock contributes to this effect. Chitosan enhanced the thermal destruction of LHR-positive E. coli AW1.7ΔpHR1(pLHR) in ground beef stored at 4 °C for 2 days, while marinade, carvacrol, or potassium lactate had no such effect, indicating that chitosan can be characterized as an effective hurdle concept to reduce the potential risk of LHR-positive pathogen to meat safety.