Table 1. Prevalence of food spoilage microorganisms in beef

	Part		Distribution stages		Grade
	Sirloin	Top round	Meat packaging plant	Meat retail	High	Low
Escherichia coli	-1) (0/34)	- (0/36)	- (0/12)	- (0/58)	- (0/36)	- (0/34)
Coliform	2.1±0.9 (28/34)	1.7±0.7 (21/36)	1.9±0.8 (12/12)	1.9±0.9 (19/58)	1.9±0.7 (0/36)	2.0±0.9 (0/34)
Listeria monocytogenes	- (0/34)	- (0/36)	- (0/12)	- (0/58)	- (0/36)	- (0/34)
Salmonella spp.	- (0/34)	- (0/36)	- (0/12)	- (0/58)	- (0/36)	- (0/34)
Staphylococcus aureus	1.2 (1/34)	- (0/36)	- (0/12)	1.2 (1/58)	- (0/36)	1.2 (1/34)
Total aerobic bacteria	5.7±1.3 (34/34)	4.5±1.1 (36/36)	5.1±1.3 (12/12)	5.1±1.6 (58/58)	5.0±1.2 (36/36)	5.2±1.4 (34/34)
Enterobacteriaceae	3.3±1.1 (30/34)	2.0±0.8 (33/36)	2.6±1.1 (11/12)	2.9±1.3 (52/58)	2.5±0.9 (30/36)	2.8±1.3 (33/34)
Lactic acid bacteria	4.4±1.2 (34/34)	3.9±0.9 (34/36)	4.3±1.0 (12/12)	3.8±1.4 (56/58)	4.0±1.0 (34/36)	4.4±1.1 (34/34)
Pseudomonas spp.	2.4±1.3 (9/34)	1.9±0.9 (16/36)	2.3±1.1 (4/12)	1.7±0.6 (21/58)	2.0±1.0 (14/36)	2.4±1.1 (11/34)
Psychrotrophic bacteria	6.2±1.4 (34/34)	4.7±1.3 (34/36)	5.4±1.5 (12/12)	5.5±1.8 (58/58)	5.3±1.4 (36/36)	5.6±1.6 (34/34)
Yeast and molds	3.1±1.1 (34/34)	2.9±0.8 (33/36)	2.9±0.9 (12/12)	3.3±0.9 (57/58)	2.9±1.0 (35/36)	3.0±0.8 (34/34)

Values are presented as mean±SD (Log CFU/g).
Prevalence is indicated as the number of positive samples over the number of analyzed samples (n/N).
Below detection limit.