Microbiological characteristics of beef sausages [Caratteristiche microbiologiche di salumi prodotti con carne bovina]

Several studies are available on microbiological characteristics of fresh meat and on pork sausages; on the contrary few studies on sausages made with meat of other species were published in literature. The objective of this study was to report an investigation on the microbiological characteristics of sausages made by beef meat. The sausages considered in the study were: salami, salted and dried beef (bresaola), smoked beef meat, bologna, and beef bacon. Sausages were bought at retail Emilia Romagna Region and analyzed for the determination of aerobic plate count, count of Enterobacteriaceae, lactic acid bacteria, Brochothrix thermosphacta and Pseudomonas spp.; sample were also investigated for the presence of Salmonella spp. and Listeria monocytogenes; pH and aw were also determined. .At all the microbiological results show that sausage are made by productive processes able to limit contaminations by Enterobacteriaceae and pathogenic micro-organisms. The detection of L. monocytogenes in one salami sample show a criticality in the process of this product, but the limited count of L. monocytogenes and the pH e aw values detected do not allow conclusive considerations on the conformity of the investigated salami. In non fermented seasoned sausages (bresaola and smoked beef meat) the more represented spoilage microbial populations are lactic acid bacteria; on the contrary in bologna and beef bacon B. thermosphacta is more represented