Ropy slime-producing lactic acid bacteria contamination at meat processing plants.

Abstract

At three Finnish meat processing plants the processing rooms, meat trimmings and carcasses were examined for the presence of ropy slime-producing lactic acid bacteria. Bacterial isolates similar to ropy slime-producing lactobacilli strains able to produce ropy slime on meat products, were recovered from the processing rooms and meat trimmings, indicating that these rooms and raw materials are a source of contamination for ropy bacteria. The ability to produce ropy slime would appear to be a common characteristic of lactobacilli, since altogether 10 different ropy lactobacilli groups were isolated in this study.