Abstract: A system for treating whole meat material and grinding whole meat material into ground meat product includes a microbial treatment station including a hopper into which whole meat material is deposited, a conveyor which conveys the whole meat material, and a microbial intervention apparatus configured to treat the whole meat material to substantially reduce an amount of microbes on an exterior surface of a whole meat material; a grinding station including a grinder downstream of the conveyor and operatively connected to the microbial treatment station, the grinder having a orifice plate through which the whole meat material passes and is ground into ground meat product and a cavity downstream of the orifice plate which receives the ground meat product and a microbial treatment apparatus in communication with the cavity and configured to treat the ground meat product to deter growth of microbes on the ground meat product.