Abstract
Strains of different bacterial genera; Escherichia coli (7), Salmonella serotypes (7), Enteropathogenic E. coli O 157 (2), Aeromonas hydrophila (4), Yersinia enterocolytica (1), Pseudomonas fragi (5), and Listeria monocytogenes (5), inoculated onto the surface tissues of pieces of fresh beef were found to be susceptible to the lethal action of hot water. On average, more than 3 log10 (99.9%) of these organisms were destroyed when water at 80 degrees C was applied for 10 or 20 s. Therefore, a hot water decontamination cabinet would be effective for destroying in situ any viable cells of these bacteria which might be present on the surface tissues of fresh beef carcasses.