Current antimicrobial compounds used by meat industry to destroy E. coli O157:H7 are effective against non-O157 STEC, according to an AMIF-funded study conducted by researchers at the Agricultural Research Service’s Meat Animal Research Center.
Researchers evaluated the efficacy of six commonly used antimicrobials on Escherichia coli O157:H7 and non-O157 shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) serogroups O26, O103, O111 and O145 on beef. The antimicrobial compounds used were acidified sodium hypochlorite, peroxyacetic acid, FreshFx, lactic acid, activated hydrobromic acid and hot water.