{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,28]],"date-time":"2026-05-28T00:15:04Z","timestamp":1779927304828,"version":"3.53.1"},"reference-count":26,"publisher":"PAGEPress Publications","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,11]],"date-time":"2026-03-11T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1773187200000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc\/4.0"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Ital J Food Safety"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Dry aging of beef has recently been defined in Delegated Regulation 2024\/1141, amending Regulation 853\/2005. The delegated regulation lists specific measures to be applied when processing such a product. Specifically, a point is dedicated to the crust trimming that should be carried out in a hygienic manner, since the interventions performed at the end of the process might determine contamination of the edible parts. Nevertheless, despite the punctual application of good hygiene practices (GHP) and good manufacturing practices (GMP), a certain degree of contamination with pathogenic and spoilage microorganisms of the cut portions cannot be avoided, as demonstrated by some authors reporting contamination of the inner parts of dry-aged meat. In order to investigate the level of contamination occurring in field conditions during trimming and portioning, we performed two different trials: the sterility trial with the aim of evaluating the sterility of the inner parts of beef during aging, and the contamination trial to assess the transfer of microbial populations from the outer to the inner part of the dry-aged beef. All tests were performed by means of cultural and non-cultural methods. Results of the sterility trial show that a very limited percentage of non-host DNA is present in the inner parts of the meat starting from the beginning of the test, and that the detectable DNA increases slightly during the time of aging. Besides, the contamination trial results showed that the contamination of the trimmed meat is qualitatively and quantitatively related to the contamination of the crust. As a consequence, adherence to GHP and GMP during trimming and handling of dry-aged meat according to scientific literature is crucial to avoid\/minimize cross-contamination since our data clearly demonstrate that processing practices are fully reflected in the final product quality.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.4081\/ijfs.2026.14620","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,11]],"date-time":"2026-03-11T13:48:01Z","timestamp":1773236881000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Outside in: assessment of microbial composition of the crust of dry-aged beef and its relevance in relation to food business operator practices"],"prefix":"10.4081","volume":"15","author":[{"given":"Federica","family":"Savini","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Veterinary Medical Sciences, Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Valentina","family":"Indio","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Veterinary Medical Sciences, Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Laura","family":"Prandini","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Veterinary Medical Sciences, Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Federico","family":"Tomasello","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Veterinary Medical Sciences, Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna, Italy; IRTA-Food Quality and Technology, Monells (Girona)"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Alessandra","family":"De Cesare","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Veterinary Medical Sciences, Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Chiara","family":"Oliveri","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Veterinary Medical Sciences, Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Alessandro","family":"Seguino","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Veterinary Medical Sciences, Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Elena","family":"Zanato","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Veterinary Medical Sciences, Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Andrea","family":"Serraino","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Veterinary Medical Sciences, Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"2549","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,11]]},"reference":[{"key":"218689","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Campbell RE, Hunt MC, Levis P, Chambers E, 2001. Dry-aging effects on palatability of beef longissimus muscle. J Food Sci 66:196-9.","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1365-2621.2001.tb11315.x"},{"key":"218690","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Capouya R, Mitchell T, Clark DI, Clark DL, Bass P, 2020. A survey of microbial communities on dry-aged beef in commercial meat processing facilities. Meat Muscle Biol 4:10373.","DOI":"10.22175\/mmb.10373"},{"key":"218691","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Chen J, Li T, Ye C, Zhong J, Huang JD, Ke Y, Sun H, 2023. The lung microbiome: a new frontier for lung and brain disease. Int J Mol Sci 24:2170.","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms24032170"},{"key":"218692","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Da Silva Bernardo AP, Muniz Da Silva AC, Saraiva Ferreira FM, Da Silva Do Nascimento M, Bertelli Pflanzer S, 2021. The effects of time and relative humidity on dry-aged beef: Traditional versus special bag. 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BMC Microbiol 22:34.","DOI":"10.1186\/s12866-022-02446-9"},{"key":"218695","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"EFSA Panel on Biological Hazards (BIOHAZ), Koutsoumanis K, Allende A, Alvarez\u2010Ord\u00f3\u00f1ez A, Bover\u2010Cid S, Chemaly M, De Cesare A, Herman L, Hilbert F, Lindqvist R, Nauta M, Peixe L, Ru G, Simmons M, Skandamis P, Suffredini E, Blagojevic B, Van Damme I, Hempen M, Messens W, Bolton D, 2023. Microbiological safety of aged meat. EFSA J 21:e07745.","DOI":"10.2903\/j.efsa.2023.7745"},{"key":"218696","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Ercolini D, Russo F, Torrieri E, Masi P, Villani F, 2006. Changes in the spoilage-related microbiota of beef during refrigerated storage under different packaging conditions. Appl Environ Microbiol 72:4663-71.","DOI":"10.1128\/AEM.00468-06"},{"key":"218697","unstructured":"European Commission, 2024. Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No. 2024\/1141 of 14 December 2023 amending annexes II and III to Regulation (EC) No. 853\/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards specific hygiene requirements for certain meat, fishery products, dairy products and eggs. In: Official Journal, EN L series, 19\/04\/2024."},{"key":"218698","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Gowda TKGM, De Zutter L, Van Royen G, Van Damme I, 2022. Exploring the microbiological quality and safety of dry-aged beef: a cross-sectional study of loin surfaces during ripening and dry-aged beef steaks from commercial meat companies in Belgium. Food Microbiol 102:103919.","DOI":"10.1016\/j.fm.2021.103919"},{"key":"218699","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Hilgarth M, Lehner EM, Behr J, Vogel RF, 2019. Diversity and anaerobic growth of Pseudomonas spp. Isolated from modified atmosphere packaged minced beef. 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Effect of different dry aging temperatures on Listeria innocua as surrogate for Listeria monocytogenes. Meat Sci 157:107884.","DOI":"10.1016\/j.meatsci.2019.107884"},{"key":"218709","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Ryu S, Park MR, Maburutse BE, Lee WJ, Park DJ, Cho S, Hwang I, Oh S, Kim Y, 2018. Diversity and characteristics of the meat microbiological community on dry aged beef. J Microbiol Biotechnol 28:105-8.","DOI":"10.4014\/jmb.1708.08065"},{"key":"218710","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Salter SJ, Cox MJ, Turek EM, Calus ST, Cookson WO, Moffatt MF, Turner P, Parkhill J, Loman NJ, Walker AW, 2014. Reagent and laboratory contamination can critically impact sequence-based microbiome analyses. 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Blackie Academic and Professional, London, UK, pp 174-219."}],"container-title":["Italian Journal of Food Safety"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.pagepressjournals.org\/ijfs\/article\/download\/14620\/13894","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/www.pagepressjournals.org\/ijfs\/article\/download\/14620\/13893","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,28]],"date-time":"2026-05-28T00:01:34Z","timestamp":1779926494000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.pagepressjournals.org\/ijfs\/article\/view\/14620"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,11]]},"references-count":26,"journal-issue":{"issue":"2","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,7]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.4081\/ijfs.2026.14620","relation":{},"ISSN":["2239-7132"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2239-7132","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,11]]}}}