Staphylococcus aureus survival, staphylococcal enterotoxin production and shelf stability of country-cured hams manufactured under different processing procedures

Susana M. Portocarrero, Melissa Newman, Benjy Mikel

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

30 Scopus citations

Abstract

Fresh hams were inoculated with Staphylococcus aureus, cured, equalized, cold smoked or non-smoked, and aged. Initial S. aureus populations of 8.57 and 8.12 Log10 CFU/cm2 for salt and salt + NO2hams decreased to below the levels of detection after the fourth month of aging. S. aureus was detected following enrichment for 75% of the inoculated and 62% of the control hams at the end of the aging period. Staphylococcal enterotoxin was detected in 40% of the inoculated and 50% of the control hams following the aging period. The NaCl content of these hams with or without nitrite were 4.45/3.37% and aw values 0.94/0.91. Country-cured ham products obtained from retail stores in Kentucky were all negative for S. aureus enterotoxin. These results indicate that higher salt content and lower aw values on country-cured hams play an important role in controlling the growth and toxin production of S. aureus.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)267-273
Number of pages7
JournalMeat Science
Volume62
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 2002

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Special acknowledgment is made of the National Pork Producers Council for partial support of this research. Thanks to Katherine Akers for technical assistance and advice.

Keywords

  • Country-cured hams
  • Staphylococcal enterotoxin
  • Staphylococcus aureus

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Food Science

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Staphylococcus aureus survival, staphylococcal enterotoxin production and shelf stability of country-cured hams manufactured under different processing procedures'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this