Fermented sausages originated from Mediterranean countries and
have been produced since Roman times.
A large variety of fermented sausages exist.Due to their combination of growth hurdles such as
low pH and low water activity (aw) (Leistner, 2000), they were
traditionally considered safe. however after a number of foodborne
outbreaks involving fermented sausages EU considers that minced
and/or fermented beef, and products thereof, represent a hazard to
public health (Anon, 2003).These outbreaks are costly, both in terms
of human suffering, and from an economic point of view, involving
extensive work identifying the source of the outbreak and organising
recalls of large amounts of food. Due to these outbreaks some
countries have imposed regulations on sausage production. For
example, the US Food Safety and Inspection Service requires that
the production process for fermented products must give a 5 log10
reduction of Escherichia coli (Anon, 2001). Such regulations have led
to a number of studies on the inactivation of E. coli in fermented
sausages. By far most studies have been performed using E. coli O157:
H7, whilst some studies compare with E. coli of other serotypes. Here
we review some of the findings from these studies.