Multiply Your Meat and Poultry Attack

Beverly conducted refrigerated (4 degrees C/39 degrees F) 28-day shelf-life studies and demonstrated that two types of cooked roast beef that were treated with acidified Keeper Pro had log reductions for LM that became more pronounced as the shelf-life study progressed from day 0 to day 28, with four test concentrations of 250, 500, 750, and 1,000 ppm ACS. For example, day 7 showed results that ranged from 3 log10 reductions for 250 ppm ACS to 4.7 log10 reduction for 1,000 ppm. LM control had 7.25 log10. Day 14 consistently had roughly 4 log10 reductions for 250 up to 1,000 ppm ACS. LM control had 9.5 log10.

Poultry products have also been successfully treated using ACS in Ecolab’s Sanova program and in Bio-Cide International’s Keeper and Keeper Pro programs. In a chicken carcass rinsate study presented at the International Poultry Expo 2006 in Atlanta, researchers sprayed 1,000 ppm ACS for 30 seconds on carcasses contaminated with E. coli 0157:H7. Results showed ACS-treated carcasses achieved a 2 log cycle reduction for total aerobes and a 1.5 log10 reduction for E. coli 0157:H7.⁷

Peracetic or Peroxyacetic Acid

Under 21 CFR 173.370, approved in November 2000, Ecolab Corp. obtained approval for PAA from the federal government as an intervention biocide for meat and poultry carcasses, parts, and organs, with a PAA maximum concentration up to 220 ppm. For meat, the hydrogen peroxide cannot exceed 75 ppm; for poultry, the upper peroxide limit is 110 ppm.

Besides the CFR approval, numerous suppliers have received FCNs for specific products. All these products typically utilize a blend of 15% PAA, 10% peroxide. All peroxyacetic acid is an equilibrium mixture of peroxyacetic, acetic acid, and hydrogen peroxide; PAA is manufactured from precise blending, reaction control, and processing to attain the precise equilibrium derived from the chemical reaction between glacial acetic acid and concentrated hydrogen peroxide.

FMC Corp.’s FCN 323 obtained approvals for process waters for red meat and poultry carcasses, parts, and trim for up to 230 ppm PAA but with peroxide levels up to 165 ppm. Another FCN, No. 880 by FMC, obtained permission to use up to 2,000 ppm PAA for poultry parts, organs, and carcasses in cold (less than 40 degrees F) process water, as well as for scald water applications. Brainard Chemical recently received FCN 993 for meat and poultry applications similar to FMC’s but up to the 220 ppm PAA level.

Enviro Tech Corp. has obtained several specific FCNs for PAA applications as interventions for seafood, meat, and poultry. Starting in 2007, FCN 699 was approved for up to 190 ppm PAA for fish and seafood ice and wash water.

The key provisions for meat and poultry, though, included FCN 887 (June 2009) for processing water or ice for carcass, parts, trim, and organs for meat and poultry up to 220 ppm PAA and 85 ppm peroxide and FCN 908, which gave Enviro Tech approvals for its PAA to be used as an antimicrobial additive in process waters/ice for processed or pre-formed meat and poultry products.

PAA Studies

Through the years, a number of fascinating intervention studies involving the use of PAA with meat and poultry have been conducted.

A 2010 Oklahoma State intervention study used OSU’s biosafety facility to compare a variety of intervention modalities to reduce E. coli 0157:H7.⁸ Sirloin patties with 8 log10 cycle challenge of E. coli 0157:H7 antibiotic-resistant strains for a 30-minute attachment period were treated with a variety of intervention chemistries using a Ross Tenderizer spray unit dosing a variety of intervention chemistries for 18 seconds at 1.5 gallons/minute. For example, PAA with lauric arginate achieved nearly a 2 log10, or 99%, reduction. After 14 days storage, the blend of PAA with lauric arginate had actual synergistic biocidal activity, achieving more than a 2.7 log10 reduction.