Rapid testing of microbial surface contamination on veal carcasses using ATP bioluminescence

This article describes a non-destructive method to screen the microbial lev el on meat carcasses within 10 min. The method consists of the concentratio n of the bacteria-suspension by filtration and then measuring the level of microbial ATP on the filter using the bioluminescence method. The procedure excludes free ATP and ATP from somatic cells and gives a result in Relativ e Light Units (RLU), corresponding with the number of microorganisms on the surface of the carcass. At a German meat company 66 veal carcasses have be en tested. This study produced a correlation between the plate count method and the bioluminescent method of r=0.91. The detection limit was 500 CFU/c m(2).