Microbiological Characteristics of Enhancement Solutions

The objective of this study was to assess the survival of Escherichia coli K‐12 in solutions of ingredients used for enhancing meat products and to evaluate the effect of potentially lethal temperatures. Enhancement solutions were prepared to contain water only (W); water + salt + phosphate (control, C); water + salt + phosphate + sodium lactate (SL); water + salt + phosphate + sodium acetate (SA); or water + salt + phosphate + lactate + diacetate (SLDA). The SLDA solution resulted in the highest log reduction of E. coli K‐12 followed by SL. Heating solutions to 70 °C resulted in about a 4 log reduction, whereas heating to 60 °C produced about a 2 log reduction. For samples with an initial microbial load of 10⁶ colony‐forming units (CFU)/mL, addition of SL and heating to 50 °C resulted in about a 2 log reduction, addition of SA gave <0.5 log reduction, whereas addition of the SLDA combination produced a > 4.0 log reduction. The SLDA combination could allow for lower heating temperatures to achieve similar microbial reductions.