Author
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Hagenmaier, Robert - Bob |
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Baker, Robert |
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Submitted to: Journal of Food Protection
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal Publication Acceptance Date: 7/15/1997 Publication Date: N/A Citation: N/A Interpretive Summary: The U.S. ready-to-eat salad industry in the past 5 years has undergone about ten-fold expansion, and most studies of bacteria content of these products pre-date this expansion. It is well known that because they harbor abundant bacteria, ready-to-eat salads are very susceptible to spoilage, especially if stored at above-recommended temperatures. There is very little information available on microbial quality of bagged salads currently available, and so the authors have here undertaken to survey the product sold in several major supermarket chains. The average bacteria counts in those salads sampled on the 'best-if-used-by' date were quite high, using as reference the maximum count permitted for bagged salad sold in France. These findings data suggest that less that the 'best-if-used-by' date be calculated at less that 14-16 after packaging, as is currently done. Technical Abstract: Ready-to-eat salads in sealed bags were sampled from five large supermarket chains, that carried a total of five brands. Measured at time of purchase, the temperature was 4-7 degree C, the mean mesophilic microbial population was 10 million cfu/g, the yeast population was 210 cfu; the mean headspace oxygen and carbon dioxide concentrations were 1.2% and 12%, respectively; and the ethanol content was 700 ppm. For samples analyzed on the expiration date (14-16 days after packaging) the mean mesophilic microbial population was 60 million, cfu/g, which is high, using as reference the standard for bagged salad sold in France. The ethanol content at expiration was 1500 ppm, and the headspace gas had not markedly changed from time of purchase. |
