Hello!
I have a problem concerning a specification for a meat product that we buy from a producer in Poland. The product is basically just frozen chuck that is diced into cubes, and is intended for cooking (gulash, stews or similar). I just learned that our producer uses the microbiological criteria intended for meat preparations for this product (m=500 cfu/g, M=5000 cfu/g), which I think is too high. At our last testing we got a result of 130 cfu/g which according to our lab was acceptable with a remark.
I am trying to convince our producer that it is incorrect to use the critera for meat preparations (since this is not a meat preparation.. or am I totally wrong?) for this product. However, I am not quite sure which level I think is resonable to aim for. Therefore I would like to ask you meat/microbiology experts out there what you would say is a acceptable limit for e. coli i fresh meat intended for cooking?
Super greatful for your advice!