Treatment of cattle hides with Shellac solution to reduce hide-to-beef microbial transfer.

The hide-to-beef microbial transfer-reducing effects of a novel Shellac treatment of hides (based on "on-hair immobilization" of microorganisms) were evaluated. In the hide-to-meat direct contact laboratory-based experiments, treatment of hides (of varying visual cleanliness) with Shellac produced significant microbial reductions on beef: up to 3.6 log(10) CFU/cm(2) of total viable count of bacteria (TVC), up to 2.5 log(10) CFU/cm(2) of Enterobacteriaceae (EC) and up to 1.7 log(10) CFU/cm(2) of generic Escherichia coli (GEC). In a small commercial abattoir under "bad-case" conditions (slaughtering dirty cattle, inadequate process hygiene), treatment of hides with Shellac produced significant microbial reductions on beef carcasses: 1.7 log(10) CFU/cm(2), 1.4 log(10) CFU/cm(2) and 1.3 log(10) CFU/cm(2) of TVC, EC and GEC, respectively. In both laboratory- and abattoir-based trials, TVC reductions on beef achieved by the Shellac hide treatment were superior to those achieved by the comparative sanitizer rinse-vacuum hide treatment, but reductions of EC and GEC did not differ significantly between the two hide treatments.