Lactic acid bacteria in marinades used for modified atmosphere packaged broiler chicken meat products

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) in some marinades commonly used in Finland for modified atmosphere packaged poultry meat products were enumerated and identified to determine whether the marinades contained LAB species that cause meat spoilage. The concentrations of LAB in 51 marinade samples ranged from less than 100 to 8.0 x 10(5) CFU/ml. Seventeen of the samples produced LAB growth only after enrichment, and in five samples no growth was detected either by direct culturing or enrichment. Eighty-eight randomly selected isolates, 51 from the enumerated plates and 37 from enriched samples, were identified using a database of 16S and 23S rRNA gene HindIII restriction fragment length polymorphism patterns of over 300 type and references LAB strains as operational taxonomic units in numerical analyses. The predominating LAB in the enumerated samples was Lactobacillus plantarum (25 of 51 isolates). Eleven isolates were identified as Lactobacillus paracasei subsp. paracasei, and nine were Lactobacillus parabuchneri. None of these species are considered specific spoilage LAB in marinated modified atmosphere packaged poultry meat products nor have they been reported to dominate in unspoiled late-shelf-life products. These results indicate that even though marinades may contain high numbers of LAB, they are not necessarily sources of specific meat spoilage LAB. Therefore, risks associated with meat quality are not predicted by quantitative enumeration of LAB in marinades.