Japanese Researchers Find Vinegar Kills E-coli 0157:H7 Bacteria

Japan's major rice vinegar manufacturer, Nakano Vinegar Co., in a joint experiment with a team of Nagoya University researchers, found that vinegar added to minced meat kills E-coli 0157:H7 bacteria when heated up to 65 degrees Celsius. Other bacteria such as salmonella were also eliminated under the same setting, the company said.

The Aichi Prefecture-based company and Nagoya University heated up two 150-gram hamburger steaks injected with 1 million E-coli 0157:H7 bacteria each, of which one was mixed with 4.5 milliliter of vinegar and the other with the same amount of water.

The research team found 20 E-coli bacteria per 1 gram of meat from the steak mixed with water and no bacteria from the other, immediately after cooking. The number of bacteria increased to 12 million in the steak mixed with water 24 hours later, while no bacteria was observed from the one with vinegar.

Edited by Pam Ahlberg