Purpose: This study was designed to determine suitability of various Electrolyzed Oxidizing water in carcass/hide wash cabinet to reduce aerobic plate counts (AC) and Enterobacteriaceae (EC) from uninoculated fresh cattle hides and Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Salmonella Typhimurium DT 104 from inoculated hides.
Methods: Fresh hides were cut in to 60 by 30 cm pieces and subjected to a total of eight different treatment solutions; near neutral pH EO water (NEW- pH 6.5 at room temperature, 150 mg/l available chlorine), alkaline pH EO water (AEO- pH 11.6 at room temperature), hot alkaline pH EO water at 43°C (HAEO- pH 11.60), alkaline pH EO water spray followed by 150 mg/l available chlorine containing near neutral pH EO water spray (A- NEW- both at room temperature), BlitzTM(PAA, pH 3.02 at room temperature), 5% lactic acid (LA, pH 2.04 at room temperature), deionized water (W) and no treatment (Control). All treatments were applied by spraying each treatment solution for 30s at 20 PSI, using a specially constructed hide/carcass wash cabinet.
Results: Five percent lactic acid spray treatment was found to be the most effective treatment and achieved 2.10 ± 0.56, 2.70 ± 0.30, 2.75 ± 0.42 and 2.90 ± 0.66 log CFU/cm2 of AC, EC, E. coli O157:H7 and S. Typhimurium DT 104 reductions, respectively (limit of detection 70 CFU/100cm2). All EO water treatments were equally effective in reducing all target microorganisms, except E. coli O157:H7 (P ≤ 0.05). HAEO and A-NEW treatments yielded significant reduction of E. coli O157:H7 compared to other EO water treatments.
Significance: These results indicate that various EO water treatments could become viable option to control pathogens on hide during slaughter process.