Diversity of microorganisms in the environment and dry fermented sausages of small traditional French processing units

I Lebert; S Leroy; P Giammarinaro; A Lebert; J P Chacornac; S Bover-Cid; M C Vidal-Carou; R Talon

doi:10.1016/j.meatsci.2006.10.019

Diversity of microorganisms in the environment and dry fermented sausages of small traditional French processing units

Meat Sci. 2007 May;76(1):112-22. doi: 10.1016/j.meatsci.2006.10.019. Epub 2006 Dec 5.

Authors

I Lebert¹, S Leroy, P Giammarinaro, A Lebert, J P Chacornac, S Bover-Cid, M C Vidal-Carou, R Talon

Affiliation

¹ INRA, Centre de Clermont-Ferrand Theix, Unité de Microbiologie, 63122 Saint-Genès Champanelle, France.

PMID: 22064197
DOI: 10.1016/j.meatsci.2006.10.019

Abstract

Naturally fermented sausages produced in nine traditional French processing units and their environmental surfaces were characterised by microbial and physico-chemical analyses. Salmonella and Staphylococcus aureus were not detected in the environment whereas Listeria monocytogenes was detected in four samples. Staphylococcus/Kocuria, lactic acid bacteria (LAB), Enterobacteriaceae, Pseudomonas, yeasts/moulds and enterococci contaminated the surfaces of two processing units, indicating insufficient cleaning and disinfection procedures. The final sausages did not present any health risk in seven of the processing units. In two of the processing units, the final sausages were contaminated with S. aureus and L. monocytogenes, respectively, at levels exceeding the maximum tolerable limit. Staphylococcus/Kocuria and LAB grew well in the products. Biogenic amines were found in the majority of the final products. Their occurrence was associated with high numbers of lactic acid bacteria and enterococci. The study outlined the processing and microbial diversities of French naturally fermented sausages.