https://doi.org/10.4081/ijfs.2024.12438
Microbiological safety of dry-aged meat: a critical review of data gaps and research needs to define process hygiene and safety criteria
Submitted: 28 February 2024
Accepted: 3 April 2024
Published: 13 May 2024
Accepted: 3 April 2024
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All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
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Dry-aged meat is gaining popularity among food business operators and private consumers. The process is carried out in aerobic conditions by hanging beef carcasses or placing subprimal or primal cuts in a dedicated cabinet for several weeks or even months while controlling the environment through the management of process parameters such as temperature, relative humidity, and airflow. In this review, we present a critical evaluation of the literature to evaluate tools to manage the process to guarantee food safety and identify critical control points, as well as good hygiene and manufacturing practices. In controlled aging conditions, only Listeria monocytogenes and Yersinia enterocolitica can multiply, while a reduction in the number of Salmonella spp. and Escherichia coli O157:H7 is generally reported. Enterobacteriaceae usually decrease on the surface of the meat during maturation; thus, for the hygiene of the hygienic evaluation of the production process, a count no higher than that of unmatured meat is expected. Besides, various studies report that the total bacterial count and the spoilage microorganisms significantly increase on the surface of the meat, up to 5-6 Log10 CFU/g in the absence of visible spoilage. Bacteria of the Pseudomonas genus tend to progressively replace other microorganisms during maturation; thus, the total mesophilic or psychrophilic bacterial load is not a good indicator of process hygiene for matured meat. Critical parameters for the control of the process are temperature, relative humidity, and ventilation, which should be monitored during the process. For this reason, equipment designed and certified for dry-aging must be used, and the manufacturer must validate the process. Food business operators must apply general good manufacturing practices (GMP) and good hygiene practices (GHP) for meat processing and some GMP and GHP specific for dry-aging. Several research needs were identified, among them the evolution of the populations of L. monocytogenes and Y. enterocolitica and the microbiology of the inner parts of the dry-aged meat.
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Savini F, Indio V, Giacometti F, Mekkonnen YT, De Cesare A, Prandini L, Marrone R, Seguino A, Di Paolo M, Vuoso V, Tomasello F, Serraino A. Microbiological safety of dry-aged meat: a critical review of data gaps and research needs to define process hygiene and safety criteria. Ital J Food Safety [Internet]. 2024 May 13 [cited 2024 Dec. 22];13(3). Available from: https://www.pagepressjournals.org/ijfs/article/view/12438
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