Origin and identification of bifidobacteria strains isolated from meat and meat products

Forty-seven strains of bifidobacteria isolated from meat and meat products have been identified following phenotypic numerical analysis and DNA-DNA hybridization. Twenty-three strains were identified to the species B. thermophilum and 14 to B. pseudolongum subsp. pseudolongum. All others were also of animal origin, except for two strains -- B. longum and B. pseudocatenulatum -- that were of human origin. These strains were isolated from artificially contaminated meat by manual handling.