Since minced meat is very susceptible for microbial growth, characterisation of the bacterial community
dynamics during storage is important to optimise preservation strategies. The purpose of this study was
to investigate the effect of different production batches and the use of different preservatives on the
composition of the bacterial community in minced meat during 9 days of cold storage under modified
atmosphere (66% O2, 25% CO2 and 9% N2). To this end, both culture-dependent (viable aerobic and
anaerobic counts) and culture-independent (454 pyrosequencing) analyses were performed. Initially,
microbial counts of fresh minced meat showed microbial loads between 3.5 and 5.0 log cfu/g. The
observed microbial diversity was relatively high, and the most abundant bacteria differed among the
samples. During storage an increase of microbial counts coincided with a dramatic decrease in bacterial
diversity. At the end of the storage period, most samples showed microbial counts above the spoilage
level of 7 log cfu/g. A relatively similar bacterial community was obtained regardless of the
manufacturing batch and the preservative used, with Lactobacillus algidus and Leuconostoc sp. as the
most dominant microorganisms. This suggests that both bacteria played an important role in the spoilage
of minced meat packaged under modified atmosphere.