Microbiological examination of pre-storage and post-storage intervention beef
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1Food Studies Group, Department of Hotel and Catering Management, University of Ulster at Jordanstown, County Antrim, BT37 0QB, UK.
Abstract:
Intervention processing involves processing techniques substantially different from traditional carcass dressing operations. Microbiological analysis of the bacterial flora of intervention beef found that this product had a bacterial population which was similar to that typically encountered on chill stored carcass beef. Counts obtained from freshly processed boned out forequarters displayed mean log(10) counts in the range 3·62-5·37 per gram dependent on enumeration conditions. Post-storage counts were of similar magnitudes. Pre- and post-storage samples demonstrated great genus diversity. Genera diversity was preserved throughout frozen storage yielding a product contaminated with pathogen-containing genera in sizeable proportions. Reasons for the broad similarity in microbial loading, despite numerous divergencies from standard slaughter techniques, between intervention beef and aerobically chill stored beef are discussed.
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