Combining food preservation hurdles (i.e., aw, temperature, and pH) is a synergistic approach to preservation, referred to as hurdle technology. A strategic combination of hurdles leads to metabolic exhaustion and disruption of cellular homeostasis, thereby controlling microbial populations in a product. Hurdle technology is utilized in a sequential fashion during animal harvest and continued throughout processing to the packaging and storage of meat products. By implementing multiple hurdles at various processing steps, microbial safety is achieved and meat quality is effectively preserved.