Fate of Spoilage Microorganisms Associated with the Production of Pickled Sausage Using a Cold Fill Process

Pickling is a means of preserving a variety of foods, including meat products. Cooked sausages have traditionally been pickled using a heated solution of vinegar, salt, and spices in a process known as hot filling. However, hot fill pickling can result in quality defects. Alternatively, room temperature brine does not cause the various quality defects resulting from heated brine. To date, no study has determined the efficacy of a cold fill pickling process to inhibit the growth of lactic acid bacteria (LAB), yeasts, and molds associated with acidified meat products. Therefore, the efficacy of cold fill pickling of cooked sausages, using a brine solution (5% acetic acid and 5% salt at 22–23ºC and pH ~2.70), was validated for the reduction of spoilage microorganisms by inoculating sausages with select LAB (6.98 log10 CFU/g), yeasts (4.49 log10 CFU/g), and molds (4.29 log10 CFU/g) over 28 days of pickling. The results revealed reductions of 5.51 log10 CFU/g in 24 h for LAB counts, 3.89 log10 CFU/g in 48 h for yeast counts, and 4.09 log10 CFU/g in 24 h for mold counts. To our knowledge, this experiment is the first to demonstrate that cold fill pickling effectively reduces and inhibits spoilage microorganisms.