Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 6, 2026

Tracking Microbial Contamination in Retail Environments Using Fluorescent Powder - A Retail Delicatessen Environment Example
Published on: March 5, 2014
Irradiation and modified atmosphere packaging for the control of Listeria monocytogenes on turkey meat
1U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Eastern Regional Research Center, Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania 19038, USA. dthayer@arserrc.gov
Abstract:
When radiation-sterilized ground turkey meat was inoculated with Listeria monocytogenes, packaged under mixtures of nitrogen and carbon dioxide, and irradiated with gamma-radiation doses of 0 to 3.0 kGy, there was a statistically significant (P < 0.05), but probably not a biologically significant, lower (0.39 log) predicted bacterial survival in the presence of 100% carbon dioxide than in the presence of 100% nitrogen. Possibly because all atmospheres contained oxygen and because a response surface design was used, gamma-radiation resistance was not significantly (P < 0.05) different in air than in modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) mixtures containing 5% O2 or containing 20, 40, 60, and 80% CO2 and balance N2. The antilisterial effects of MAP mixtures containing 17.2, 40.5, and 64% CO2 and balance N2 were compared to those associated with air and vacuum packaging on turkey inoculated with approximately 5 x 10(3) CFU/g. Samples were irradiated to doses of 0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, and 2.5 kGy and were stored at 7 degrees C for up to 28 days. Irradiation treatments were significantly more lethal in the presence of air packaging than in either vacuum packaging or MAP, and in those samples that received >1.0 kGy, there was a concentration-dependent CO2 inhibition of L. monocytogenes multiplication and/or recovery.
Related Concept Videos
Methods for Controlling Microbial Growth
Physical Methods for Controlling Microbial Growth: Temperature
Physical Methods for Controlling Microbial Growth: Radiation and Filtration
Pasteurization and Food Preservation
Principles of Food Preservation
Methods of Controlling Food Spoilage

