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Survival of Campylobacter jejuni on beef trimmings during freezing and frozen storage
1AgResearch Ltd, Private Bag 3123, Hamilton, New Zealand. sandy.moorhead@agresearch.co.nz
Aims:
To investigate the survival of two animal isolates of Campylobacter jejuni on beef trimmings during freezing and frozen storage.
Methods And Results:
Meat packs inoculated with 10(3) or 10(6) cfu g(-1) of either strain of C. jejuni were frozen to -18 degrees C, and sampled at regular intervals over 112 d storage to determine Campylobacter numbers and sublethal injury. For both strains and inoculation levels the numbers of Campylobacter decreased in the first 7 d of storage by ca. 0.6-2.2 log cfu g(-1) and then remaining constant over the remainder of the storage trial, with neither isolate exhibiting sublethal injury.
Conclusions:
Despite an initially significant decrease in number, these pathogens were able to survive standard freezing conditions in meat, but did not exhibit sublethal injury.
Significance And Impact Of The Study:
Strict hygiene and/or the implementation of decontamination technologies are recommended as a means to assure the safety of meat with respect to this pathogen.
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