So they found that a shelf life model could be developed from the pooled APC and LAB populations and the dissolved CO2 concentrations in the purge of vacuum-packaged pork chops
Dissolved CO2 concentrations could be used to estimate the LAB populations
so if the microbial population exceeds an agreed upon level for spoilage the meat product could be considered spoiled
They developed two different models, one for core samples and another for purge samples
However, these models are limited to vacuum-packaged pork chops stored at 4 because those were the conditions tested.