Mathematical modeling and growth kinetics of Clostridium sporogenes in cooked beef

No growth of C. sporogenes was observed at temperatures below 15 °C for up to 25 days. At temperatures between 20 and 47 °C, C. sporogenes grew in cooked beef. The growth curves could be analyzed by both Huang and Baranyi models. The root mean squared error (RMSE) was 0.375 for the Huang model, and 0.441 for the Baranyi model with a global h0 of 10.46. The nominal minimum growth temperature (T0) estimated from the Huang model was 15.5 °C, which was 12.7 °C for the Baranyi model. The maximum growth temperature was 48.0 and 48.3 °C for the Baranyi and Huang models, respectively. The lag times and specific growth rates of C. sporogenes observed in this study were reasonably close to the data reported in the literature for C. botulinum under comparable conditions, suggesting that C. sporogenes may be used as a potential surrogate for evaluating the growth of C. botulinum in cooked meats during cooling. However, a direct comparison of growth kinetics between the two microorganisms is needed to confirm the suitability of C. sporogenes as a surrogate of C. botulinum.