Table 5.

The main spoilage defects and causal bacteria (adapted from Nychas et al., 2007)

Defect	Meat product	Causal bacteria
Slime	Fresh meat	Pseudomonads, lactic acid bacteria (former Lactobacillus spp.), Enterococci, Weissella spp. and Brochothrix spp.
Hydrogen peroxide greening	Aerobically stored fresh meat	Weissella spp., Leuconostoc spp., Enterococci and Lactobacilli
Hydrogen sulfide greening	Vacuum‐packed fresh meat	Shewanella spp. and Clostridium spp.
Sulfide odour	Vacuum‐packed fresh meat	Clostridium spp. and Hafnia spp.
Cheesy or dairy odour	Vacuum‐packed fresh meat	Brochothrix thermosphacta
Bone taint	Carcasses	Clostridium spp. and Enterococci
Souring	Vacuum‐packed meats	Lactic acid bacteria, Enterococci, Micrococci, Bacilli and Clostridium spp.