As the global meat market moves to never frozen alternatives, meat processors seek opportunities for increasing the shelf life of fresh meats by combinations of proper cold chain management, barrier technologies, and antimicrobial interventions. The objective of this study was to determine the impact of spray and dry chilling combined with hot water carcass treatments on the levels of microbial indicator organisms during the long-term refrigerated storage of beef cuts. Samples were taken using EZ-Reach™ sponge samplers with 25 mL buffered peptone water over a 100 cm2 area of the striploin. Sample collection was conducted before the hot carcass wash, after wash, and after the 24 h carcass chilling. Chilled striploins were cut into four sections, individually vacuum packaged, and stored to be sampled at 0, 45, 70, and 135 days (n = 200) of refrigerated storage and distribution. Aerobic plate counts, enterobacteria, Escherichia coli, coliforms, and psychrotroph counts were evaluated for each sample. Not enough evidence (p > 0.05) was found indicating the hot water wash intervention reduced bacterial concentration on the carcass surface. E. coli was below detection limits (<0.25 CFU/cm2) in most of the samples taken. No significant difference (p > 0.05) was found between coliform counts throughout the sampling dates. Feed type did not seem to influence the (p > 0.25) microbial load of the treatments. Even though no immediate effect was seen when comparing spray or dry chilling of the samples at day 0, as the product aged, a significantly lower (p < 0.05) concentration of aerobic and psychrotrophic organisms in dry-chilled samples could be observed when compared to their spray-chilled counterparts. Data collected can be used to select alternative chilling systems to maximize shelf life in vacuum packaged beef kept over prolonged storage periods.

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Shiga toxin–producing Escherichia coli (STEC) and Salmonella are foodborne pathogens commonly harbored in the gastrointestinal tract of sheep. These pathogens can be on the hide of sheep and transferred to the carcass, causing a foodborne hazard. Salmonella can also be found in the lymph nodes of sheep, creating a biological hazard during harvest and processing. Developing countries lack baseline data on the presence of these foodborne pathogens on meat products, specifically sheep meat. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the presence of STEC and Salmonella on sheep hides, preevisceration carcasses, and final carcasses and Salmonella in subiliac lymph nodes from two small Honduran harvest facilities, plants A and B. Sponge swabs from the foreshank region of hides and carcasses and subiliac lymph node samples were collected from 96 sheep (86 at plant A; 10 at plant B). Microbial detection of STEC and Salmonella was performed by using the BAX System to screen for prevalence, and suspect samples were subjected to conventional culture isolation for confirmation. Overall baseline contamination on hides were 34.4 and 10.4% present for STEC and Salmonella; however, through implementation of sanitary procedures, preevisceration and final carcass samples were significantly decreased from the hide for both pathogens (P = 0.05). Moreover, overall plant A had significantly higher rates (P = 0.05) of STEC and Salmonella at each carcass sampling site compared with plant B. After each sampling was performed, recommendations were provided to each facility on the basis of pathogen presence, performance techniques, and contamination risks. Through recommendations and implementation of hazard analysis and critical control points, good manufacturing practices, and sanitation standard operating procedures in each facility, the meat supply in Honduras will become safer and more wholesome. Therefore, the development of a baseline with continued sampling is crucial to understand the risk of foodborne pathogens to consumers in the Honduran sheep meat supply. HIGHLIGHTS