My guess is that US Wellness is not being totally forthcoming on the subject of the temperatures used in processing their jerky and dried meat products and it is just another case of John telling people what they want to hear. USDA/FSIS have what is called a 'recommended leathality standard' for jerky that must be met. There are several ways to meet this standard but the most common is to use moist heat (raising the temperature of the raw meat before drying) to a minimum of 160F and then continue drying at a temperature of 135F-145F until the desired moisture level has been reached. Any processor not following these guidelines would be putting themselves at significant risk and could be ruined by a single lawsuit brought against them for salmonella or E. coli infection. Here's a link to the FSIS document.
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/PDF/Compliance_Guideline_Jerky.pdfThe definition of Jerky in the Compliance Guideline document is a dry product that is shelf stable without refrigeration. I suppose US Wellness could get around these guidelines by insisting that their end product be kept frozen (which they do for their pemmican). My problem with believing this is that low temperature drying would almost mandate that every batch of jerky be tested for bacteria before it could be used or sold and this is very expensive. Much cheaper to follow the guidelines. John at US Wellness has also told me that the reason that their pemmican must be kept frozen is that they do not fully dehydrate the meat because it is too difficult to grind when fully dry.
You are free to believe whatever you wish, but I don't think that US Wellness or their processors would be willing to bypass USDA/FSIS guidlelines. All it would take is one lawsuit for salmonella or e. coli contamination along with the fact that they purposely weren't followiing published guidelines and they would be toast. Damages would be in the millions.
Lex
