When each combination of bacteria used for inoculation was
considered separately (Figs. 2 and 3), higher concentrations were
observed throughout storage for spoilage bacteria (B. thermosphacta
or P. fluorescens) than for pathogenic bacteria for most of combinations
tested. However, legs co-inoculated with L. monocytogenes and
P. fluorescens and treated with TSP showed a significantly higher
load for the pathogen than for the spoilage microorganism between
day 0 and day 5 of storage. In samples treated with TSP that had been
co-inoculated with L. monocytogenes and B. thermosphacta similar
densities were observed for both microbial species at all sampling
times. On the other hand, only minimal (lower than 0.5 log10 cfu/cm2)
and non-significant differences between the concentrations of the
pathogenic and the spoilage microorganisms were observed at the
end of storage on samples co-inoculated with L. monocytogenes and
B. thermosphacta and treated with CA, on samples co-inoculated with
E. coli and B. thermosphacta and treated with CA, and on samples coinoculated
with L. monocytogenes and P. fluorescens and treated with