THERMAL-TREATMENT OF COOKED HAMS AND RESIDUAL PHOSPHATASE-ACTIVITY

Residual acid phosphatase has been determined in six kinds of cooked h ams of the same producer; the thermal treatment lenght and core temper ature were known. The correlations among the three variables are highl y significant. The residual activity has been measured in twelve types of cooked hams belonging to different producers, taken from the marke t. The activities of six exceeded the upper limit indicating a thermal core treatment inferior to Fc 70/10 of 94 minutes, value that assures pathogen microorganisms inactivation. To a high commercial quality do es not always correspond a satisfactory hygienic quality.