Bacterial, Shelf Life, and Consumer Acceptance Characteristics of Chopped Beef1

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Abstract
Several studies were initiated to evaluate factors that exert an influence on bacterial counts, shelf life, and consumer acceptance of commercially processed chopped beef. Bacterial counts in chub packaged (oxygen impermeable film) product underwent only slight increases when evaluated every 4 days over a 20-day storage period. Retail packaging of chopped beef after both 16 and 20 days of chub storage resulted in severely limited shelf life of the retail film wrapped product in terms of bacterial counts, surface discoloration, and flavor. Differences in the anatomical location (chuck, flank, navel, and head) of beef trimmings did not exert a major influence on chopped beef shelf life. However, the use of CO2 pellets did lower psychrotrophic bacterial numbers in some samples, with subsequently less surface discoloration and improved flavor. Reductions in bacterial counts occurred during the 3-day retail storage in oxygen permeable film only for chopped beef stored in chub form for a total 18 days before the 3-day storage.

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