The antioxidant effects of 0.5–2.0% milk mineral (MM) was tested in raw and cooked ground pork stored at 2 °C or −20 °C, compared to butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) and sodium tripolyphosphate (STP). TBA numbers were low and not different between raw meat treatments. TBA numbers were lower (P<0.01) for cooked treatments with MM or STP compared to controls or treatments with BHT. Experiments were also done to determine acceptability of pork samples with various TBA values, and to determine effect of holding time before serving on TBA values. Cooked pork patties held at 71 °C for 90 or 120 min had higher (P<0.05) TBA values than patties held for 0–60 min. Thus patties could be warmed for 60 min after cooking without significantly increasing TBA number. For paired-preference sensory testing, patties were cooked and stored at 2 °C for 0, 1, 2 and 3 days to obtain TBA numbers of 0.4, 1.5, 3.4 and 3.9 respectively. Panelists preferred (P<0.001) patties with TBA number <0.5, compared to patties with TBA numbers >1.4.

ABSTRACT: The quality of ground beef stored in high‐oxygen modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) (80% O2 and 20% CO2) was evaluated and compared to controls stored in oxygen‐impermeable chubs. Patties were formed from the stored ground meat at d 1, 6, and 10. Color, microbial load, thiobarbituric acid (TBA) number, and sensory acceptability were measured. Patties from both treatments bloomed to red with a* values > 16. Aerobic plate counts increased to 9 × 105CFU/gby 10 d storage, but were not different (p < 0.05) between treatments. TBA number of high‐oxygen samples increased to 2.1 after 10 d, compared to 0.8 for controls. The flavor of samples in high‐oxygen were rated less desirable after 6 or 10 d.

Our goal was to obtain > 21 days red color stability for carbon monoxide (CO)-treated beef steaks in vacuum packaging (VP). In preliminary tests, pretreatment for 24 h in a 5% CO modified atmosphere package (MAP) was needed to maintain redness after re-packaging in VP. Pressure pretreatment with 5% CO for 2 h developed redness, but was impractical for large-scale application. Color stability and microbial load were then compared after treatment of steaks in 5% CO-MAP for 24 h, then VP; 100% CO-MAP for 1 h, then VP; steaks and ground beef in 0.5% CO-MAP; and steaks and ground beef in polyvinyl chloride (PVC) wrap. Steaks remained red for 5, 6, 8 and <1-week storage at 2°C, respectively. Steaks microbial load exceeded spoilage levels (>10(6)cfu/cm(2)) at 5, 6, 7 and <2-weeks, respectively. Thus, extended color stability in VP was achieved by pretreatment with 5% CO for 24 h or 100% CO for 1 h.