480 MEAT AND MEAT PRODUCTS 
significance and do not appear to multiply in the cold-stored carcasses provided 
the cold-storage room is maintained at the proper temperature. 
Chopped Meats. These may contain many bacteria for a number 
of reasons: (1) The meat that is used for such purposes may be dirty 
and old and unfit for consumption in other ways. (2) The hashing 
process probably distributes bacteria throughout the meat This 
treatment increases the surface area of the meat, allowing a more vigor- 
ous development of bacteria. (3) Careless handling of the product may 
cause high counts in the same way as in other food. 
The bacteriology of chopped meat has been studied by a number of 
investigators. Zweifel (1911) regarded the count as of little sanitary 
significance. Marxer (1903) made a bacteriological study of Hamburger 
steak and concluded that 1,000,000 bacteria per gram or a large number 
of representatives of the protein group indicated a meat that was on the 
verge of decomposition. Weinzirl and Newton (1914), after developing 
a satisfactory method for enumerating bacteria in chopped meats studied 
forty-four samples of market Hamburger steak. To determine the 
degree of composition comparisons were made between the organoleptic, 
ammonia tests, and the bacterial content. From their data, they con- 
clude that the Marxer standard given above is too low since nearly all 
samples have to be condemned without regard to the evidence of putre- 
faction. There was a good correlation between the ammonia and organ- 
oleptic tests but not one between these and the bacterial content. 
These authors propose a standard of 10,000,000 bacteria per gram which, 
according to their data, would condemn about 50 per cent of the sam- 
ples. Le Fevre (1917), using the technique devised by Weinzirl and 
Newton, made a semi-qualitative study of the bacteriain Hamburger 
steak. The presence of liquefying bacteria was evident in nearly all 
of the samples. Acidifiers presented in the table do not agree with 
statements in the article. Anaerobic bacteria were found in some 
samples. Le Fevre believes that the Marxer standard is high enough 
and that the bacterial count should be relied upon for the control of 
retail supplies of chopped meat. 
Whether this may be done is doubtful. At least much more infor- 
mation should be accumulated before any ‘‘ standard ” is established. 
The kind of bacteria may be more important than the numbers. Wein- 
zirl and Newton (1915) undertook an investigation to determine the 
effect of cold storage below freezing on the bacterial content. After 
one year at 10° C. six of the ten samples fell within the 10,000,000 
standard. This compared favorably with the organoleptic tests. 
