Because beef, chicken and fish can be frozen either before or
after packaging, we wanted to determine the effect of UV-C application
prior to freezing. Previous studies with other foodborne
pathogens have indicated a ca. 1e2 log reduction as a result of
freezing . In this study a ca.1 log reduction of Y. pestiswas obtained regardless of
food matrix type (p > 0.05) (Table 2). As is shown in Fig.1, a ca. 1 log
reduction of Y. pestis was obtained regardless of food matrix type
after 1 J/cm2 UV-C. Therewas no additional log reduction as a result
of UV-C exposure followed by freezing (p > 0.05) (Table 2), however,
we did note that recovery of the Y. pestis required an additional
day of incubation on the Brain Heart Infusion Agar.