Safety
Hazards
Seven hazards, each with the organism, what it needs to grow, and the parameter that a named source says controls it. Nothing on these pages is advice. They report what the standard requires and let the number speak.
Botulism
Clostridium botulinum
A spore-forming organism that grows without oxygen, in low-acid food, at ambient temperature, and produces a neurotoxin as it does.
Staphylococcal enterotoxin
Staphylococcus aureus
Grows at a lower water activity than the other pathogens, and produces a heat-stable toxin. Cooking the product afterwards does not remove the toxin.
Listeriosis
Listeria monocytogenes
Grows at refrigeration temperature. Recontaminates ready-to-eat product after the lethality step, from surfaces and hands.
Salmonellosis, haemolytic uraemic syndrome
Salmonella and shiga-toxin producing E. coli
Present on raw meat. Tolerates drying and adapts to acid, so neither fermentation nor drying reliably removes it.
Trichinellosis
Trichinella spiralis
A parasite in pork muscle. Killed by heat, by sustained freezing, or by a validated curing and drying schedule.
Perfringens food poisoning
Clostridium perfringens
A spore former that multiplies rapidly through the cooling range if a heated product is allowed to sit in it.
Mycotoxins and spoilage
Moulds
High salt and low temperature do not inhibit moulds, so a curing chamber is a good place for them.