THE CONTRIBUTION OF CARCASS CONTAMINATION AND THE BONING PROCESS TO MICROBIAL SPOILAGE OF AEROBICALLY STORED PORK

A study was undertaken in four Australian retail boning rooms to ident ify the sources of pork spoilage bacteria-and to develop strategies to minimize their dissemination onto meat. Pseudomonas spp. were confirm ed as the cause of microbial spoilage of refrigerated, aerobically sto red pork. In the boning room environment, Pseudomonas counts were high est on the carcasses and on the surfaces which they contacted. Improve ment of boning room sanitation, in particular boning hoards, was shown to reduce the contamination ofpork to levels comparable to those of t he carcass from which the meat was boned. A combination of improved bo ard sanitation and good quality carcass was shown to form a basis for extending shelf-life.