Bacteriological survey of raw beef patties produced at establishments under federal inspection.

At the time of manufacture, 76% of 74 sets of raw beef patties collected in 42 federally inspected establishments had aerobic plate counts of 1,000,000 or fewer/g; 84% contained 100 or fewer coliforms/g; 92% contained 100 or fewer Escherichia coli/g; and 85% contained 100 or fewer staphylococcus aureus/g (geometric means of 10 patties/set). Salmonellae were isolated from only three (0.4%) of 735 beef patties.