Microbiological conditions of detained beef carcasses before and after removal of visible contamination

The microbiological conditions of carcasses detained for the removal of visible contamination at four beef packing plants were examined. The numbers of aerobes and Escherichia coli recovered from most visibly contaminated sites did not exceed numbers generally regarded as acceptable for beef carcasses. The numbers of bacteria at visibly contaminated sites were reduced when those sites were trimmed, but additional and/or routine decontaminating treatments after trimming gave greater reductions in numbers at three of the plants. At each plant, at the end of the dressing process, the microbiological condition of the carcasses that had been detained was similar or superior to the condition previously determined for carcasses routinely produced from the process.