Detection of cold-tolerant clostridia other than Clostridium estertheticum in raw vacuum-packed chill-stored meat.

Samples from raw chill-stored vacuum-packed beef, lamb and venison or the meat processing environment, associated with a spoilage problem, but negative for Clostridium estertheticum using a specific real-time PCR test, were examined for other Clostridium spp. using direct 16S rDNA PCR-RFLP and sequencing. Of 291 samples tested by PCR, presence of clostridia was indicated in 123 and there was sufficient PCR product in 35 to be further investigated.