Survival of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus during commercial heat treatment of slab bacon and consumer preparation of sliced bacon

Jonathan A. Campbell, James S. Dickson, Joseph C. Cordray, Dennis Olson, Aubrey F. Mendonca, Kenneth J. Prusa

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

With the knowledge that retail pork products may be contaminated with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), the risk of consumers contracting a MRSA infection or foodborne illness from processed meats, especially bacon, is uncertain. Therefore, a study was designed to investigate the survival of MRSA during heat treatment of slab bacon at a commercial process and during cooking of sliced bacon at the consumer level. Fresh pork bellies were injected with a curing solution, inoculated, and heat treated to an internal temperature of 52°C. Three commercial brands of sliced bacon with similar "sell by" dates and fat-to-lean ratios were also inoculated and cooked at a temperature of 177°C for 0, 2, and 5 min on each side. Heat-treated slab bacon showed a log reduction of 1.89, which was significant (P < 0.05) compared with an uncooked inoculated control. Cooked sliced bacon had a reduction of viable MRSA cells of >6.5 log CFU/cm2, and there was not a significant brand interaction (P > 0.05).

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)83-86
Number of pages4
JournalJournal of food protection
Volume77
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Jan 2014

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Food Science
  • Microbiology

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Survival of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus during commercial heat treatment of slab bacon and consumer preparation of sliced bacon'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this