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A chemical hide
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Meat Safety: It All Works Out in the Wash
By Laura
McGinnis July 1, 2008
When it comes to the safety of the U.S. beef supply, everything works
out in the wash--the hide wash, that is.
Scientists with the Agricultural
Research Service (ARS) developed a hide-washing tool that has significantly
improved the safety of U.S. beef while saving the beef industry millions of
dollars each year. An estimated 50 percent of U.S. feedlot-raised beef cattle
undergo the washing treatment, which has reduced the national incidence of
pathogenic Escherichia coli in ground beef samples by about 43 percent.
The tool was developed by ARS scientists at the
Roman
L. Hruska U.S. Meat Animal Research Center (USMARC) in Clay Center, Neb.
The research team included microbiologists
Terry
Arthur and
Joseph
Bosilevac, food technologists
Steven
Shackelford and
Tommy
Wheeler, and center director Mohammad Koohmaraie, formerly with ARS.
The U.S Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention estimate that E. coli O157:H7 causes nearly 73,000
illnesses every year in the United States. Following a 1993 outbreak, the
USMARC scientists launched a massive investigation into the pathogen. Their
work was the first to show that the principle source of E. coli O157:H7
in ground beef is fecal contamination on cowhides.
Before, most intervention efforts had focused on eliminating the
pathogenic bacteria from feces. The new findings led to a paradigm shift and
the development of improved, hide-targeted intervention techniques to reduce
and eliminate pathogenic E. coli O157:H7 and other dangerous
microorganisms.
The hide-washing system works by using a high-pressure-water wash that
removes excess organic matter from the cattle's hides, which are then sprayed
with an antibacterial compound.
The scientists also have demonstrated that several chemical compounds
can be effectively used for pathogen removal.
Read more about the research in the July 2008 issue of Agricultural
Research magazine.
ARS is a scientific research agency of the
U.S. Department of
Agriculture.