Raw beef rounds were surface inoculated with salmonellae. Some of the rounds were mechanically blade tenderized. Both surface and core samples from each round studied were examined for the presence of and the logarithmic level of salmonellae. Mechanical tenderization increased the level of salmonellae found in core samples by about one logarithm. Large samples taken from cores of rounds which were not tenderized contained small numbers of salmonellae. Dipping inoculated rounds into a 50 ppm chlorine solution did not prevent the occurrence of salmonellae in core samples of mechanically tenderized units. Salmonella survived in the core and on the surface of some but not all inoculated rounds cooked to an internal temperature of 130°F