Micro limits for shelf life evaluation on red meat primals
Hi
Please help me.....
I am after help in deciding on some micro limits for red meat SOL & EOL limits and what testing to do to decide on applying a shelf life to the product.
If you could help I would appreciate all comments and guidance
Thanks
Hi
Please help me.....
I am after help in deciding on some micro limits for red meat SOL & EOL limits and what testing to do to decide on applying a shelf life to the product.
If you could help I would appreciate all comments and guidance
Thanks
Hi aps,
Just as a kickstarter for which i will likely be personally not much the wiser, pls inform -
Actual product related to shelf-life = ?
SOL = ?
EOL = ?
"Primals" = ? A cow ?
As mentioned good to know what product you are asking about.
Counts at start of life (SOL) should be quite low. (<1.000) End of life (EOL) is subjective. If you are deciding end of life on raw meat generally by 10^7 the product won't be good. (have seen customers specify 10^6 EOL) ( have seen aged vacuum pack beef still good but way in excess of 10^7)
In terms of what to test for if you really need microbial data suggest just Total Count should be informative enough.
If this is an exercise in determining shelf life you may wish to decide the life by organoleptic assessment rather than microbial count due to the difficulty of having a set figure and relating it to anything/
Hi
The product I am asking about is Red Meat in Vac Pack primals, PAD and fresh packed in a tray products.
Should I have limits set at low levels and the start of life then go up as suggested towards the end of life.
Thanks
I could do with some clarity on this as well.....
Should i be validating Primal cuts of individual pieces?
Also what micro should I be validating to detemine shelf life of the product and to what levels.
Currently I am testing Rumps, Topside etc as individuals but I am told that I need to do a primal HQ then this will cover all my primal cuts and set my shelf life for all then rota around the cuts yearly.
Can somebody shed some light on this please?
I'd test whatever final product you're shipping.
THere's no hard and fast rule for "this many CFU is end of shelf life", if they aren't illness causing spoilage organisms cause no harm, but they do cause sensory and other problems that are the "end of shelf life".
Australia has a really good guide to help you go through this procedure on your own products/facility here that covers both the basics and goes pretty deep into designing a study: https://www.mla.com....2nd-edition.pdf
This study identified 7 log lactic acid bacteria as end of shelf life for ham: http://onlinelibrary...009.04451.x/pdf
So would you say all the cuts from the HQ not just a primal to determine the shelf life for all?
I don't know the answer to that unfortunately. My best guess is that primals would have a longer shelf life due to less exposure to contamination and reduced surface area for oxidation and other degredation to take place. I'd look through that australia doc and see what you learn, and share it with the group later!