Food grade organic acids are used to control undesirable microbes in foods and are commonly diluted in water to facilitate application of desired concentrations of antimicrobial agents. However, water is a poor wetting agent for hydrophobic environments. In hydrophobic environments this problem can be circumvented by use of a food grade processing aid. Sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) is a surfactant that is generally regarded as a safe food additive. The purpose of this study was to investigate the ability of a lactic-citric acid (LCA) blend and SLS to control the growth of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) in a broth system. E. coli O157:H7 and a cocktail of non-O157:H7 (O26, O45, O103, O11, O121, O145, O104:H4) strains were evaluated separately (8.0 log CFU/g). A blend solution of LCA at a 2.4% concentration and SLS at concentrations of 0.05%, 0.25%, and 0.5% were evaluated individually and in combination. Samples were plated onto Sorbitol MacConkey agar infused with rifampicin (100 µg/ml) and incubated at 37°C for 24 h. When used alone the treatments showed no individual effects (p>0.05) of the LCA blend or SLS on the control of O157:H7 and the non-O157:H7 cocktail in the BHI broth. Applying the combined SLS (0.05% and 0.5%) and LCA blend (2.4%) in the broth significantly (p<0.01) reduced the non-O157:H7 by 5.5 log CFU/g and 2.9 and 4.6 log CFU/g in O157:H7 stains. Increasing the SLS concentration (0.25%) in LCA blend (2.4%) was more effective (p<0.01) on O157:H7, showing 5 log CFU/g reduction. This work will assist with providing new information on enhancing the wettability and the exposure of pathogens to antimicrobial treatment.