Hot-water rinsing and trimming washing of beef carcasses to reduce physical and microbiological contamination

A field study was conducted to compare trimming/washing procedures with hot-water rinsing as interventions for beef carcass decontamination. Treatments included no trimming/no washing; knife-trimming followed by spray-washing (26 degrees C, 276 kPa followed by 1000 kPa); and hot-water rinsing (>77 degrees C, 138-152 kPa, 2.5 or 8 sec) following either knife-trimming or no knife-trimming of the contaminated site and spray-washing. Samples were analyzed for counts of total aerobic bacteria, total coliforms and Escherichia coli, as well as for the presence of Salmonella spp, and E. coli O157:H7. Results indicated decontamination of beef carcasses could be achieved by knife-trimming followed by spray-washing or by spray-washing followed by hot-water rinsing.