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Research Project: Improving the Quality of Animal Hides, Reducing Environmental Impacts of Hide Production, and Developing Value-Added Products from Wool

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Title: Efficacy of Citrilow® and Cecure® spray wash on the prevalence of aerobic and enterobacteriaceae/gram negative enteric bacilli and cattle hide quality

Author
item LONG III, WILBERT - Orise Fellow
item Sarker, Majher
item Marsico, Ryan
item Latona, Nicholas - Nick
item ULBRICH, LINDSEY - Safe Foods Corp
item Muir, Zerlina
item Liu, Cheng Kung

Submitted to: Journal of Food Safety
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/19/2017
Publication Date: 1/19/2018
Citation: Long III, W., Sarker, M.I., Marsico, R.M., Latona, N.P., Ulbrich, L.M., Muir, Z.E., Liu, C. 2018. Efficacy of Citrilow® and Cecure® spray wash on the prevalence of aerobic and enterobacteriaceae/gram negative enteric bacilli and cattle hide quality. Journal of Food Safety. https://doi.org/10.1111/jfs.12441.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jfs.12441

Interpretive Summary: Contamination from bacteria on the outer haired surface of cattle is a continuous issue for the meat and hide industries. Such contamination can degrade the quality of the meat through cross-contamination and additionally lead to putrefaction of the hide. To reduce such degradation antimicrobials and/or surfactants are applied during hide and meat processing. Such solutions need to be tested for their ability to reduce bacterial concentrations for food safety and to insure the quality of hide. In this study two formulations, Citrilow® and Cecure®, which have previously been shown to be effective in reducing pathogens in food systems, were tested for their ability to reduce bacteria on the haired surface of a freshly slaughtered cow. Results show that both formulations significantly reduced bacteria on the outer haired surface of cattle hides. In addition, both formulations did not adversely affect the quality of the hide after processing.

Technical Abstract: Bacterial cross-contamination from the haired outer surface of cattle to the inner meat as well as hide quality deterioration from bacteria are hygienic problems for meat and hide processing facilities. This study investigated spray wash treatments independently with two antimicrobials used in the food industry (Citrilow® or Cecure®) for their effects on microbial concentrations and hide quality. Spray washing with Citrilow® reduced aerobic mesophile recovery by 2.78- 2.95 log cycles, 2.42- 2.78 log cycles and 3.32- 3.72 log cycles on the head, belly and butt regions, respectively. Additionally, after spray washing with Citrilow® Enterobacteriaceae recovery counts reduced by 3.06- 4.08 log cycles, 2.14- 2.57 log cycles, and 4.65- 4.99 log cycles on the head, belly and butt regions, respectively. Cecure® significantly lowered aerobic bacterial levels on the head, belly and butt regions by 1.40- 1.65 log cycles, 6.00- 6.12 log cycles and 4.26- 3.60 log cycles. Spray washing with Cecure® significantly lowered Enterobacteriaceae counts by 3.65- 3.01 log cycles, and 2.17- 3.17 log cycles on belly and butt regions. Subjective testing, grain structure analyses, and mechanical properties of leather made from fresh hides after Citrilow® or Cecure® treatments revealed no discernible difference between the antimicrobial treatment and their corresponding controls.