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Suzie's Tips ... Delicious Food and Keeping it Safe |
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Suzie's Tips ... Delicious Food and Keeping it Safe |
Scientific Studies of Meat Dehydrating and Lab TestingThere have been several scientific studies of meat dehydrating and lab tests on jerky samples by the following professionals: Judy Harrison, Cooperative Extension Service, University of Georgia; Mark Harrison, the Center for Food Safety and Quality Enhancement, Department of Food Science and Technology, University of Georgia; Richard A. Holley, Food Research Institute, Agriculture Canada, in Ontario; and William Keene of the Oregon Health Division. In studies, the meat dehydrated included slices of beef from the round, loin, or flank; corned beef slices; and ground beef formed in jerky presses. Keene examined homemade venison jerky which infected 11 people with E. coli O157:H7. In a related work, factors affecting the heat resistance of E. coli O157:H7 was the subject of an April 1998 piece by J. Kauer et al., Letters of Applied Bacteriology, Vol. 26, No. 4, page 325. In the jerky studies, some samples showed total bacterial destruction and other samples showed some bacterial survival – especially the jerky made with ground beef. Further experiments with lab-inoculated venison showed that pathogenic E. coli could survive drying times of up to 10 hours and temperatures of up to 145 °F. A recent study by the Harrisons and Ruth Ann Rose, also with the University of Georgia, was published in the January 1998 Journal of Food Protection, Vol. 61, No. 1. The authors analyzed ground beef jerky made with a commercial beef jerky spice mixture with and without a curing mix containing salt and sodium nitrite. Half of the ground beef was inoculated with E. coli O157:H7 before making it into jerky strips and dehydrating it. The authors found that in both the heated and unheated samples, the jerky made with the curing mix had greater destruction of bacteria than jerky made without it. The jerky made with the mix and heated before dehydrating had the highest destruction rate of bacteria. They concluded, "For ground beef jerky prepared at home, safety concerns related to E. coli O157:H7 are minimized if the meat is precooked to 160 °F prior to drying." It's so easy to stay safe. Please take the time to cook to the correct temps. have a wonderful day. Suzie Eating Well - Delicious Food Blog Posted: Wednesday 12th January 2005, 12:05 AM |