Shelf-life and bacterial community dynamics of vacuum packaged beef during long-term super-chilled storage sourced from two Chinese abattoirs

[Display omitted] •TVC and dominant bacteria differ between abattoirs at different storage stages during 20 weeks.•The shelf-lives of beef cuts were less than 12 and 9 weeks in abattoirs A and B, based on TVBN threshold.•TVC and bacterial community of abattoir A samples were more similar to imported beef at the end of storage.•Lactobacillus spp. were the predominant genus in abattoir A samples during the late storage.•The dominant bacteria after TVC reached 6.0 lg CFU/cm2 may affect shelf-life of super-chilled beef. This study explored the shelf-life and bacterial community dynamics of beef cuts stored at super-chilled conditions (−1 ± 0.5 °C) for 20 weeks when sourced from two Chinese abattoirs, in order to determine whether domestic beef has equivalent quality as that imported from Australia. The initial total viable counts (TVC) were 4.15 and 4.87 log CFU/cm2 in beef from abattoirs A and B, respectively at the commencement of the storage period. The TVC of beef from abattoir A was above 6.0 log CFU/cm2 at 6 weeks and kept below 7.0 log CFU/cm2 at 20 weeks; while the counts were above 6.0 log CFU/cm2 at 3 weeks and reached at 7.3~7.6 log CFU/cm2 in beef from abattoir B. The beef shelf-life was deemed less than 12 and 9 weeks in abattoirs A and B, respectively, based on the total volatile basic nitrogen (TVBN) threshold, although all samples were acceptable organoleptically. High-throughput sequencing showed that the initial bacteria community and bacterial succession during storage were different between the two abattoirs. Carnobacterium spp. and Lactobacillus spp. dominated in both abattoirs throughout 3–9 weeks while Serratia spp. co-dominated in abattoir B, and Lactobacillus spp. and Carnobacterium spp. were dominant for the rest of storage in abattoir A and B, respectively. Overall, the high initial TVC is a concern compared to imported beef from Australia. To achieve comparable shelf-life, domestic super-chilled stored beef would need to be sourced from abattoirs employing effective decontamination technologies or where strict hygiene procedures are adopted.