title: The microbiology of beef carcasses and primals during chilling and commercial storage.
abstract: The primary objective of this study was to characterise (microbiology and physical parameters) beef carcasses and primals during chilled storage. A minor aim was to compare observed growth of key spoilage bacteria on carcasses with that predicted by ComBase and the Food Safety Spoilage Predictor (FSSP). Total viable count (TVC), total Enterobacteriacae count (TEC), Pseudomonas spp., lactic acid bacteria (LAB), Brochothrix thermosphacta and Clostridium spp. were monitored on beef carcasses (n = 30) and primals (n = 105) during chilled storage using EC Decision 2001/471/EC and ISO sampling/laboratory procedures. The surface and/or core temperature, pH and water activity (aw) were also recorded. Clostridium (1.89 log10cfu/cm2) and Pseudomonas spp. (2.12 log10cfu/cm2) were initially the most prevalent bacteria on carcasses and primals, respectively. The shortest mean generation time (G) was observed on carcasses with Br. thermosphacta (20.3 h) and on primals with LAB (G = 68.8 h) and Clostridium spp. (G = 67 h). Over the course of the experiment the surface temperature decreased from 37 °C to 0 °C, pH from 7.07 to 5.65 and awfrom 0.97 to 0.93 The observed Pseudomonas spp. and Br. thermosphacta growth was more or less within the range of predictions of Combase. In contrast, the FSSP completely overestimated the growth of LAB. This study contributes to the very limited microbiological data on beef carcasses and primals during chilling.
authors.affiliation: Teagasc Food Research Centre, Ashtown, Dublin 15, Ireland.
authors.forename: Rachael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Reid
authors.affiliation: University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland.
authors.forename: Séamus
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fanning
authors.affiliation: University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Whyte
authors.affiliation: University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.
authors.forename: Joe
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kerry
authors.affiliation: The National Food Agency, Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: Roland
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lindqvist
authors.affiliation: University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland.
authors.forename: Zhongyi
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Teagasc Food Research Centre, Ashtown, Dublin 15, Ireland. Electronic address: declan.bolton@teagasc.ie.
authors.forename: Declan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bolton
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D058640:Brochothrix / Q000254:growth & development / Q000302:isolation & purification; D002417:Cattle; D005516:Food Microbiology; D018857:Food Packaging; D005519:Food Preservation; D061353:Food Storage; D007777:Lactobacillaceae / Q000254:growth & development / Q000302:isolation & purification; D011549:Pseudomonas / Q000254:growth & development / Q000302:isolation & purification; D000069466:Red Meat / Q000382:microbiology*; D013696:Temperature; D014618:Vacuum
keywords: Beef carcasses; Brochothrix thermosphacta; Chilling; Clostridium spp.; Lactic acid bacteria (LAB); Pseudomonas spp.; TVC