Sterile slices of cooked uncured turkey loaf were inoculated with 106 CFU of either Salmonella typhimurium, Listeria monocytogenes, Escherichia coli, Enterococcus faecalis, Citrobacter freundii, Klebsiella pneumoniae, or Enterobacter cloacae. Inoculated samples were vacuum‐packaged and stored at 3 ± 1°C. Microorganisms were enumerated at 0, 3, 6, 9, 12, and 15 days on nonselective media. K. pneumoniae exhibited the least cold‐tolerance with a log10 1.70 decrease in numbers. The coliforms E. cloacae, E. coli, and C. freundii had a survival pattern similar to that of S. typhimurium, with population decreases of log10 0.65, 0.82, 1.13, and 0.79, respectively. E. faecalis and L. monocytogenes were significantly more cold‐resistant, with a decrease of log10 0.20 and no significant change in numbers, respectively. Survival of E. faecalis was not significantly (p < 0.01) different than that of L. monocytogenes, suggesting the use of enterococci as indicators of L. monocytogenes contamination of processed meats.
