A significant number of studies have examined the antimicrobial
effectiveness of organic acids against Salmonella and pathogenic
E. coli. More recently Cosansu and Ayhan (2012) inoculated chicken
legs and breasts with 4e5 log most probable number (MPN)/cm2
Salmonella Enteritidis which were treated with lactic acid (1% or 3%)
or acetic acid (1% or 2%), and stored at 4 C up to 10 d or at 18 C up
to 6 months. The antimicrobial effects of lactic and acetic acids were
similar and yielded about 1 log MPN/cm2 reductions of S. Enteritidis
numbers. During 10 d storage at 4 C, organic acid treatments
reduced S. Enteritidis numbers by 0.54e1.52 log MPN/cm2
, but reductions
during storage at 18 C were not significantly different
from reductions obtained with water-washed samples. This suggested
frozen storage afforded the pathogen some protection from
acid lethality. Lecompte et al. (2009) observed that a 1 min exposure
to 5% lactic acid reduced a 5 log CFU/cm2 inoculum of S. Enteritidis on
chicken skin by 2.8 log during 4 d storage at 4 C, but there was some
evidence of injury recovery at 7 d storage.