Escherichia coli O157:H7 emerged as a foodborne pathogen in 1982 and can ca
use three major disease syndromes (hemorrhagic colitis, hemolytic uremic sy
ndrome, ann thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura). Outbreaks caused by E. co
li O157:H7 have been linked to ground beef; milk, apple cider lettuce, radi
sh and alfalfa sprouts, and water. In 1994, an outbreak of E. coli O157:H7
infection was linked to dry, fermented pork and beef salami. In response to
this first implication of a dry fermented sausage product, the United Stat
es Department of Agriculture/Food Safety Inspection Service developed guide
lines requiring sausage manufacturers to validate that their processes achi
eve a five-log reduction of E. coli O157:H7. Various validation studies hav
e shown that E. coli O157:H7 is able to survive in sausages that are fermen
ted and then dried to various moisture-to-protein ratios of 2.3, 1.9, or 1.
6:1. Additional thermal processing methods or longer fermentation processes
were utilized to achieve 5-log reductions.