Irradiation of Meat for the Production of Fermented Sausage

Fermented sausage was prepared from batter which had been processed with gamma radiation to reduce the microflora. Doses up to, 500 Krad reduced the total aerobic bacteria in commercial batter up to 2.2 log cycles. Irradiation reduced the coliform and staphylococci counts to levels that minimized public health concern after fermentation. These reductions allowed the use of a lower inoculum and a longer fermentation. The reductions shifted the percent inoculum relative to the total population from 1% in the controls to 70% in the 500 Krad samples, and the shift in population resulted in a more uniform fermentation and final product.