With the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) declaration of Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) as adulterants in non-intact raw beef products and intact raw beef products intended for non-intact use (FSIS, 2012), adding antimicrobial interventions has become standard procedure during beef harvest and further processing.
Marbling tends to get all of the praise and celebrity as it is a big contributor to the overall palatability of beef products; however, the lesser-known big factor in palatability is the physiological maturity of the beef carcass. And that's where our story begins.
Many restaurants and artisan butcher shops are developing and producing dry-aged beef. There is, however, no official standard regarding aging conditions such as temperature, relative humidity or time.
Researchers are harnessing a still-developing field of study, microgenomics, to limit pathogens in the pre-harvest stage of cattle, while common sense methods are still being used to protect poultry.