Fecha de publicación: -- Fuente: PubMed "meat" J Food Prot. 2026 Nov 9:100964. doi: 10.1016/j.jfp.2026.100964. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTRaw ready-to-eat beef (yukhoe) is considered a high-risk food because it is consumed without thermal processing, and information on the growth behavior of major foodborne pathogens during chilled distribution remains limited. Therefore, this study evaluated the microbiological safety of yukhoe through retail surveillance and assessment of foodborne pathogen behavior under chilled distribution temperatures (-2 to 10℃). Analysis of 601 retail samples identified enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) (3.0%), Listeria monocytogenes (2.2%), Clostridium perfringens (1.2%), Staphylococcus aureus (0.7%), and Yersinia enterocolitica (0.3%), whereas Salmonella spp. were not detected. Bacillus cereus was detected in two samples at low levels, both below the regulatory limit of 1,000 colony-forming units per gram. Inoculated yukhoe was stored at 5℃, 7℃, and 10℃ under aerobic and vacuum packaging for 7 days to assess the suitability of chilled distribution temperatures. Pathogen growth was observed at 7℃ and 10℃, whereas no growth occurred at 5℃ under any packaging condition. EHEC was the only pathogen that grew at 7℃ and exhibited the earliest growth among the tested pathogens. At 10℃, EHEC, L. monocytogenes, Y. enterocolitica, and Salmonella spp. proliferated, with greater growth observed under aerobic packaging. By contrast, S. aureus, C. perfringens, and B. cereus did not grow under any tested condition. Overall, microbiological stability strongly depended on storage temperature and packaging atmosphere, with no measurable pathogen growth observed at 5℃ under any packaging condition. These findings highlight the need for strict temperature control and appropriate packaging strategies to ensure the safety of raw, ready-to-eat beef during chilled distribution.PMID:43003260 | DOI:10.1016/j.jfp.2026.100964