3. Results
3.1. Boiling water submersion treatments
Boiling water (100 2 C) treatments produced variable reductions
in pathogen populations on beef slices (Figs. 1e6). Interestingly,
populations of Salmonella spp., exposed to any of the
boiling water treatments and subsequent dehydration, were
reduced >5 log10 CFU/strip from pre-marination levels. Conversely,
E. coli O157:H7, L. monocytogenes, and S. aureus populations were
not reduced >5 log10 CFU/strip until after exposure to 20 and 30 s of
boiling water and dehydration. As a control, beef slices not exposed
to the boiling water treatment (0 s) were briefly immersed in water
(20e22 C) to observe the isolated effects of the other processes
(marinating, dehydration, and vacuum packaging). Control samples
demonstrated reductions (5 log10 CFU/strip after vacuum-packaging for all pathogens tested