Microbiological Analysis

Each skin and meat sample was transferred to a sterile Whirl-Pak bag containing 10 mL PBS to enumerate surviving S. Heidelberg attached to skin or meat after LGEO dip treatments. The samples were subsequently homogenized for 2 min at 200 rpm using a stomacher (100/125V, 50/60Hz; Neutec Group Inc., Farmingdale, NY) followed by 10-fold serial dilution with PBS before plating 100 µl from appropriate dilutions on XLD+NA plates. Additionally, 100 µl from dipping solutions used in the sequential scalding and chilling treatments were also plated on XLD+NA to enumerate surviving pathogens in the treatment water. All XLD+NA plates were incubated at 37°C for 24 h before bacterial enumeration. Dipping solutions and sample homogenates were enriched with 10 mL of Selenite Cysteine Broth (SCB; Hardy Diagnostics, Santa Maria, CA, United States) and streaked on XLD+NA plates after 8 h of incubation to detect any surviving Salmonella that was not observed with initial plating.