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Summary This study aimed to enumerate and identify lactic acid bacteria and Enterobacteriaceae from spoiled and nonspoiled chilled vacuum‐packaged beef and determine their potential to cause blown pack spoilage. These microbial groups were also enumerated in nonspoiled samples and detected in abattoir samples. The potential of isolates to cause ‘blown pack’ spoilage of vacuum‐packaged beef stored at chilled temperature (4 °C) and abuse temperature (15 °C) was investigated. Populations of lactic acid bacteria in exudate of spoiled and nonspoiled samples were not significantly different (P > 0.05), whereas the number of lactic acid bacteria on the surface was significantly higher (P < 0.05) in spoiled samples as compared to nonspoiled samples. The population of Enterobacteriaceae species in exudate and on the surface of samples were significantly higher (P < 0.05) in spoiled packs in comparison with nonspoiled packs. Results of the deterioration potential showed that ‘blown pack’ spoilage was noticeable after 7 days at 15 °C and after 6 weeks at 4 °C for samples inoculated with Hafnia alvei.

This study was aimed to model the Time to Enterotoxin Detection (TED) in chicken meat as a function of temperature and salt concentration (NaCl) using a polynomial response surface model. The standard strain of Staphylococcus (ATCC 13565) as the producer of enterotoxin A producer was inoculated into 25 g of chicken meat sample. The samples were prepared according to proposed combinations of NaCl concentration, pH, and temperature with consider to the experimental design. At intervals of time, (1–24 hours), the approved enterotoxin extraction protocol and Staphylococcal Enterotoxin (SE) detection techniques (mini VIDAS, BioMérieux) were applied. Four hours was determined as the lowest detection time among the experiments at 37 and 41 °C treated with 0.8 or 1% and 1% salt, respectively. Following the linear and quadratic temperature patterns, the temperature often found in kitchen (tropical countries) is able to reduce TED even in high concentrations of salt. Practical applications The proposed models could be applied to calculate the Time to Enterotoxin Detection (TED) in similar chicken meat products with consider to defined variables. An acceptable prediction for TED (R2 = 0.83, bias = 0.81) was provided by the established model as the result of variations in salt concentration and temperature. Hence, the introduced model can be approached to guaranty the proposed level of food safety.