Assessment of the sanitary effectiveness of holding temperatures on beef cooked at low temperature.

Beef cubes cooked at low temperature were surface inoculated and incubated at 43.3 through 53.3 C to establish temperature limits for growth of staphylococci, salmonellae, and Clostridium perfringens. A greater than 99% reduction in staphylococci was achieved after 6 hr at 48.8 C, of salmonellae at 51.1 C, and of C. perfringens at 53.3 C. There were no survivors of a mixed inoculum of Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella enteritidis, and C. perfringens after 12 hr at 51.1 C.