Cranberry Marinade Makes Turkey Safer

Nov. 26, 2008 -- Roast turkey and cranberry sauce is a classic combination, but home chefs would do well to also cook their turkey with cranberry juice, which a new study has just determined kills common food-borne pathogens.

The study is the first ever to document the antibacterial effects of the American cranberry against the pathogens Escherichia coli, Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella and Staphylococcus aureus. All can cause illnesses that may lead to death, such as the deadly outbreak of E.coli-tainted spinach a few years ago.

Turkey and other poultry, if not cooked properly, can sometimes carry such stomach-churning pathogens that can bring unwanted bacterial guests to holiday dinner tables.

Lead author Vivian Chi-Hua Wu told Discovery News that it's "recommended to cook turkey to an internal temperature of 180 degrees Fahrenheit (if the turkey is stuffed, the temperature of the stuffing should be 165 degrees Fahrenheit) to ensure the elimination of possible pathogen contamination."

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"However, consumers may not often monitor the internal temperature of meat during the cooking process," added Wu, an assistant professor of microbiology and food safety at The University of Maine. Adding cranberry concentrate to the meat, said Wu, may help eliminate bacteria as well.

For the study, which will be published in the December issue of the journal LWT- Food Science and Technology, Wu and her colleagues added cranberry concentrate at various strengths to distilled water. The four pathogens were introduced and monitored for less than a day to a week.

Within five hours at 39 degrees Fahrenheit, Staphylococcus and Listeria were reduced to non-detectable levels. After a day, no pathogens were detected in the cranberry concentrate.

Very high magnification provided by transmission electron microscopy showed cranberry juice destroying the bacteria cell by cell. It appears that the tart berry's acid eats into bacterial cell walls, spilling their "guts," which are then attacked by numerous antimicrobial compounds also present in the berry.