Estimation of growth of Clostridium perfringens in cooked beef under fluctuating temperature conditions

A new concept for estimating the bacterial growth under temperature fluctuations was hypothesized and validated using Clostridium perfringens as a test organism. This new methodology was based on the Gompertz models to calculate the equivalent growth times under different temperatures, and estimated the bacterial population under temperature fluctuations. The new concept was tested in ground beef maintained under fluctuating temperature conditions. The estimation accuracy of this methodology was generally within 1.0 log10 (cfu/g). Although the methodology was based on C. perfringens, it can potentially be applied to other foodborne pathogens to predict the bacterial growth under temperature fluctuations. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.