Food business operators producing Ready-To-Eat (RTE) foodstuffs
must be able to demonstrate that the products will comply
to regulatory specifications in terms of food safety. At the same
time, various food quality aspects are also important to ensure
the economic position of the producers. It is obvious that the actual
time–temperature profiles a food product undergoes are of paramount
importance for guaranteeing food safety and quality. Cardinal
values of temperature for two lactic acid strains, Lb. sakei and
Lc. mesenteroïdes were estimated, and growth parameters of L.
monocytogenes and both lactic acid strains on three representative
RTE cooked meat products (cooked ham, cooked pâté, and smoked
ham) were identified. Physico-chemical food attributes were not
significantly affected by time/temperature storage in our study.
The relationship between the production of a volatile component,
ethanol, and the growth of spoilage bacteria population in cooked
ham as a function of temperature and time were assessed and
strong parallels have been found. However, variations between –
batches, processing parameters and spoilage require identification
of the relevant case-specific indicators useful for the control of
microbial spoilage of processed meat products.