Studies on the growth and survival of Staphylococcus aureus in corned beef

The growth of an enterotoxin A producing strain of Staphylococcus aureus in corned beef was investigated. In the inoculated 6 lb. canned product the bacteria spread throughout the meat and attained high numbers. The rate of spread of the organisms was related to the temperature and length of storage of the cans and the numbers of bacteria inoculated. Cans which had been stored for more than four months showed high counts of the bacteria throughout the meat. It was noted that with the long term contaminated product counts of S. aureus on some selective media may give falsely low results. Numbers of S. aureus on meat inoculated by handling after removal from the can were initially extremely variable. More uniform distribution and higher counts were attained only if the meat was exposed for some hours at ambient temperature or above. The significance of the results to the investigation of outbreaks of food poisoning suspected of being associated with canned corned beef is discussed.