A University of Illinois food scientist has discovered that certain solutions used by meat processors to extend shelf life actually do double duty as antimicrobial agents, killing such virulent foodborne pathogens as E. coli 0157:H7.
That's important because E. coli can be spread via recycled solutions used to tenderize and enhance flavor in steaks, chops, and other cuts of meat, said U of I food science professor Susan Brewer.
The problem motivated Brewer and her graduate students to study the process used to inject meat with enhancement solutions before they're offered to consumers. And the results, published in the Journal of Food Science and Meat Science, have interested industry representatives.
"We wanted to find a point in the process at which we could exert some kind of control to keep foodborne pathogens from becoming a problem," said Brewer.
Brewer said that needle injection has been widely used for decades to tenderize meats, and more recently the fresh-meat industry has adopted the use of enhancement solutions, a practice that poultry and ham processors have used for years with very few problems.
"A certain amount of fat makes meat juicy and tasty, but in recent years consumers have been demanding leaner and leaner cuts of meat. Processors are now using the needles that tenderize steaks and chops to inject solutions that make the meat taste better and last longer," she said.
Picture a continuous end-line process in which needles inject cuts of meat with flavor boosters and shelf-life extenders. A basin catches fluid that goes through the meat or runs off the surface, and the solution is recycled into the system.
"With needle injection, organisms that exist on the outside of a piece of meat can get poked down into the meat where they're less likely to be killed if consumers like their meat on the rare side," said Brewer.