Use of a commercial household steam cleaning system to decontaminate beef and hog carcasses processed by four small or very small meat processing plants in Georgia

Small and very small meat-processing facilities in the United States are in need of a pathogen reduction technology that would be both effective and economical. In the present study, the effectiveness of a commercial household steam cleaner for reducing naturally occurring bacterial populations on freshly slaughtered beef and hog carcasses was evaluated in four small or very small meat-processing plants. Three anatomical sites on the right half of each carcass were exposed to a 60-s steam treatment, and the corresponding left half of the carcass remained untreated. Samples were collected from 72 beef and 72 hog carcasses before, immediately after, and 24 h after the steam treatment. The mean populations of total aerobes, coliforms, and Enterobacteriaceae recovered from three anatomical sites on the beef carcasses were 1.88, 1.89, and 1.36 log CFU/cm2, respectively, before the steam treatment, 1.00, 0.71, and 0.52 log CFU/cm2, respectively, immediately after the steam treatment, and 1.10, 0.95, and 0.50 log CFU/cm2, respectively, 24 h after the steam treatment. On hog carcasses, the mean populations of total aerobes, coliforms, and Enterobacteriaceae recovered from the three anatomical sites were 2.50, 2.41, and 1.88 log CFU/cm2, respectively, before the steam treatment, 0.50, 0.94, and 0.21 log CFU/cm2, respectively, immediately after the steam treatment, and 0.91, 1.56, and 0.44 log CFU/cm2, respectively, 24 h after the steam treatment. The steam treatment significantly reduced the total aerobes, coliforms, and Enterobacteriaceae at all three anatomical locations on both types of carcasses (P < 0.05). The order of mean bacterial populations recovered before steam treatment was midline > neck > rump for beef carcasses and belly > jowl > ham for hog carcasses except for the total coliform counts at the midline and neck areas on the beef carcasses. Of the 144 carcasses evaluated, 5 (3.47%) were positive for Salmonella before steam treatment, but all carcasses tested negative for Salmonella after the treatment. Results indicate that the household steam cleaner can effectively reduce overall bacterial populations on freshly slaughtered beef and hog carcasses in small and very small meat-processing facilities.