Increasing storage and display
temperature and time of ground beef
significantly increased microbial counts but
lean level had no effect. Prolonged storage
at abusive temperatures (48°F) caused up
to 90% unacceptable chubs and aerobic
bacteria counts as high as 7.7 log10 CFU/g,
which would render chubs unsatisfactory
for further processing, packaging and sale.
Thus, ground beef chubs should be stored
at 32°F. and as briefly as possible to
minimize pre- and post-display microbial
counts. Maintaining both optimal storage
and display temperatures is critical because
combining abusive storage and display
conditions resulted in the greatest microbial
growth. Shelf life and wholesomeness
benefits from maintaining cold (32°F)
storage and display temperatures are
clearly demonstrated.
