A Microbiological Survey of British Fresh Sausage

SUMMARY This survey indicated that British fresh sausages contain 1‐5000 × 10 5 viable organisms/g, with Microbacterium thermosphactum predominant in the majority of samples. With lightly contaminated sausages, yeasts were abundant. They made a meagre contribution, however, in samples containing >1.0 × 10 7 organisms/g. In such material, members of the Pseudomonas–Achromobacter complex tended to be plentiful. Coliaerogenes organisms were recovered from the majority of samples, their numbers ranged from 1.3 to 2400 × 10 2 /g. A similar situation obtained with Group D streptococci. Little change in the size of the microbial populations occurred during brief periods of storage but there was evidence of change in the composition of the flora. Fermentative organisms such as microbacteria and yeasts developed at the expense of the aerobic Gram negative organisms. Lactic acid bacteria made only a small contribution to the initial populations of sausages and their number did not increase appreciably when the commodity was held overnight under refrigeration or at room temperature.