Microbial Control
Also known as Microbial
The third Pillar. The active management of micro-organisms: encouraging the ones you want, the ferments and noble moulds, and holding back the ones you do not.
Microbial Control is the Pillar that decides which organisms win. A cure is never sterile; it is a managed competition. The curesmith's task is to give the wanted microbes every advantage, the lactic acid bacteria that ferment, the nitrate-reducers that set colour, the noble moulds on the surface, so they establish first and crowd out spoilage organisms and pathogens.
The main tools are the hurdles themselves, salt, nitrite, a fast pH drop and a falling water activity, together with the deliberate addition of a starter culture. A measured starter floods the meat with the right bacteria from the outset, so the fermentation is fast and reliable rather than left to chance. This is competitive exclusion: fill the space with friends and there is no room for enemies.
It works hand in hand with the rest of the Temple. Hygiene Control lowers the number of unwanted organisms to begin with, the Safety Triangle sets the conditions that favour the wanted ones, and Microbial Control is the active steering that ties them together.
Temple element. Pillar, Microbial Control
Related in the Codex
References
- Codex Alimentarius Commission — General Principles of Food Hygiene, CXC 1-1969
- Codex Alimentarius Commission — Code of Hygienic Practice for Meat, CXC 58-2005
- United States Food Safety and Inspection Service — FSIS Ready-to-Eat Fermented, Salt-Cured, and Dried Products Guideline
- Codex Alimentarius Commission — Guidelines for the Validation of Food Safety Control Measures, CXG 69-2008
- Canadian Food Inspection Agency — Preventive control recommendations for manufacturing fermented and dried meat products
- Food Safety Authority of Ireland — Guidance Note 33: Good Manufacturing Practices for Ready-to-Eat Raw Fermented Meat Products
- Hwang and co-authors — Effect of Starter Cultures on Quality of Fermented Sausages
- Canadian Food Inspection Agency — Preventive Control Recommendations on the Use of Nitrites in the Curing of Meat Products
- United States Food Safety and Inspection Service — Processing Inspectors' Calculations Handbook, FSIS Directive 7620.3
- United States Food Safety and Inspection Service — FSIS Stabilization Guideline for Meat and Poultry Products
- Coton and co-authors — Microbial Ecology of French Dry Fermented Sausages and Mycotoxin Risk Evaluation during Storage
- Ludemann and co-authors — Toxicological Assessment of Penicillium nalgiovense Strains for Use as Starter Cultures in Dry Fermented Sausages
- Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations — Basic Methods of Quality Control
- United States Food and Drug Administration — HACCP Principles and Application Guidelines