Rivera, JaredDeliephan, AiswariyaDhakal, JanakAldrich, Charles GregorySiliveru, Kaliramesh2021-07-092021-07-092021-06-25Rivera, J.; Deliephan, A.; Dhakal, J.; Aldrich, C.G.; Siliveru, K. Significance of Sodium Bisulfate (SBS) Tempering in Reducing the Escherichia coli O121 and O26 Load of Wheat and Its Effects on Wheat Flour Quality. Foods 2021, 10, 1479.http://hdl.handle.net/10919/104129The occurrence of recalls involving pathogenic <i>Escherichia coli</i>-contaminated wheat flours show the need for incorporating antimicrobial interventions in wheat milling. The objectives of this study were to assess the efficacy of sodium bisulfate (SBS) tempering in reducing <i>E. coli</i> O121 (ATCC 2219) and O26 (ATCC 2196) wheat load and to evaluate the impact of effective (≥3.0 log reductions) SBS treatments on wheat flour quality. Wheat grains were inoculated with <i>E. coli</i> (~6 log CFU/g) and tempered (17% moisture, 24 h) using the following SBS concentrations (%wheat basis): 0, 0.5, 0.75, 1.0, 1.25, and 1.5% SBS. Reductions in <i>E. coli</i> O121 and O26 wheat load at different time intervals (0.5, 2, 6, 12, 18, and 24 h) during tempering were evaluated. The addition of SBS during tempering resulted in <i>E. coli</i> (O121 and O26) log reductions of 2.0 (0.5% SBS) to &gt;4.0 logs (1.5% SBS) (<i>p</i> ≤ 0.05). SBS tempering (1.25 and 1.5% SBS) produced acidic wheat flours (pH = 4.51–4.60) but had comparable wheat flour properties in terms of composition, dough, and bread-making properties relative to the control (0% SBS). SBS tempering reduced the <i>E. coli</i> O121 and O26 load of wheat after tempering with minimal effects on wheat flour quality.application/pdfenCreative Commons Attribution 4.0 Internationalshiga toxin-producing E. colisodium bisulfatewheat temperingArticle - Refereed2021-07-08https://doi.org/10.3390/foods10071479