Inactivation of foodborne pathogens in marinated beef rib by ionizing radiation Original Research Article

The efficacy of irradiation treatment for inactivating the pathogens in raw marinated beef rib especially the four pathogens of public health significance including Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, Salmonella typhimurium and Escherichia coli was selected and investigated. The commercially available marinated beef rib was purchased, radiation-sterilized, and inoculated at 106 cfu/g with each of the four pathogens and stored at two storage conditions: commercial refrigeration (4°C) and an abusive temperature (20°C) condition. D10-values of S. aureus, B. cereus, Salmonella typhimurium and E. coli were 0.663±0.01, 0.594±0.05, 0.636±0.02, and 0.538±0.01 kGy, respectively. In the commercial refrigerated storage condition, all the four pathogens inoculated were eliminated at 4 kGy but in the temperature-abusive condition at 20°C, 5 kGy was not enough to eliminate the pathogens. E. coli was the most radiation-sensitive in the raw marinated beef rib among the pathogens tested.