RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN PATHOGEN GROWTH AND THE GENERAL MICROBIOTA ON RAW AND PROCESSED MEAT AND POULTRY

Contaminants are capable of growth on meat and poultry products due to the nutrient composition of the products, the available water, the fa vorable pH and very often the temperature and other conditions of stor age. These factors and processing conditions influence greatly the pat tern of development of the spoilage and pathogenic microflora. This pa per will consider the effects of the general bacterial flora on pathog enic bacteria occurring on meat and poultry as well as the impact of e xternal factors on some of the different types of bacteria found on th ese products.