Nitrite in Cured Meats

... According to the data from “GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) Food Ingredients”, a single dose of 30 to 35 grams of potassium nitrate can be highly hazardous and possibly fatal to adult humans.
For more please read nitrite in cured meats

Sodium Nitrate in Cured Meat

Sodium nitrite is mainly utilised for the preservation of meat. It is also used for developing the organoleptic quality of meat with respect to flavour and colour. Like sodium nitrate, it has the ability to suppress botulism activity (botulinal toxin). However sodium nitrite is believed to be more capable of reacting at low temperature while sodium nitrate may not able to be active at lower temperature.

Microbial Safety of Meat: Indicator Organisms and Carcass Sampling

It is essential to control the quality and safety of fresh meat / meat products to ensure meeting both legal regulations and consumer demands. HACCP and QM are two typical controlling procedure commonly implemented in food industry for manufacturing meat. HACCP is normally conducted to audit / identify hazards for raw meat primarily with respect to chemical and physical and microbiological aspects.

For more please read: Microbial Safety of Meat: Indicator Organisms and Carcass Sampling

Potential Spoilage of Packaged and Irradiated Meat

A number of methods can be used to inhibit the growth of microorganisms in meat. These include packaging such as modified atmosphere packaging and vacuum packaging, irradiation, etc. However these methods may encourage the growth of other types of micro-organisms such as Lactic acid bacteria, yeast, etc.

Spoilage Organisms in Fresh Meat

During the slaughtering process of cattle and poultry some species of micro-organisms are able to develop and colonise under certain conditions. The growth develops when specific type / amount of essential nutrients are available mainly on the surface of the meat products. Population of the survived micro-organisms is directly dependent on the type and properties of the meat, atmosphere, storage and the processing and handling approaches.