Assessment of the risk of botulism from chilled, vacuum/modified atmosphere packed fresh beef, lamb and pork held at 3 °C–8 °C

Abstract The safety of current UK industry practice (including shelf-life) for chilled, vacuum/modified atmosphere-packed fresh red meat (beef, lamb and pork) held at 3°C–8°C has been evaluated with respect to non-proteolytic Clostridium botulinum. UK industry typically applies a retail pack shelf-life at 3°C–8°C to 13 days for fresh red meat, with a maximum of 23 days for beef, 27 days for lamb, and 18 days for pork. An exposure assessment established that current commercial practice for fresh red meat provided strong protection with more than 1010 person servings marketed in the UK without association with foodborne botulism. A challenge test demonstrated that spores of non-proteolytic C. botulinum inoculated on chilled vacuum-packed fresh red meat did not lead to detectable neurotoxin at day 50 for beef, day 35 for lamb, or day 25 for pork (i.e.