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Abstract
Home-style jerky has grown in popularity over the past years because it is easy to prepare, lightweight, low fat, and tasty. However, during the 1980's and 1990's, several foodborne outbreaks, associated with home-style and small scale jerky processors, led people to re-examine the safety of the jerky making process. This thesis, addressed food safety issues related to Escherichia coli O157:H7, Listeria monocytogenes, and Salmonella spp. on preparation of home-style beef jerky. Antimicrobial effects on of sugar and salt marinades were compared. Sodium chloride levels on the jerky process were investigated as the antimicrobial effect of a low and a regular salt level marinade were compared. Whether acid adapted cells have a higher survival rate than nonadapted cells was investigated. The type of marinade did not have an effect on physical properties. The survival of the acid-adapted and nonadapted cells were not significantly different.