Thus as expected, at 4 C planktonic/suspended E. coli 0157:H7 cells in all substrates remained relatively unchanged during storage (Fig. 3). Surprisingly, however, pathogen counts, at the end of storage at 4 C, of adhered/attached cells on coupons in TSB or fat-lean homogenate were approximately 1 and 2 log CFU/cm2, respectively, higher than initial levels (Fig. 1).