glucose. Approximately 60 g of the meat batterwas stuffed in 60-ml
polystyrene aseptic containers with screw cap (VWRI 216-2621;
VWR International, Darmstadt, Germany), so that no headspace
was left. Four different batches were prepared, each consisting of
several single-use sausage models to allow at least triplicate sampling
per investigated time point per batch. Half of the batches
were inoculated with L. sakei CTC 494 and S. sciuri I20-1, with or
without methicillin- and rifampicin-resistant S. aureus C26 RifR
strain (batches B and A, respectively). The other batches were
inoculated with L. sakei CTC 494 and the negative control S. sciuri
G160, with or without S. aureus C26 RifR (batches D and C,
respectively). Preparation of the inocula was done as described
above and cell pellets were resuspended in PBS (pH 6.5) to obtain
inoculation levels in the meat between 106 and 107 cfu per gram.
The fermentation of the sausage modelswas carried out at 21 C. All
four batches were performed in triplicate.