## 3 Results and Discussion  
The reference sample (considered a control) concerning thermal imaging methods resulted from a study of microbiological quality using classical culture methods. Since this was a preliminary study on determining the suitability of thermal imaging camera and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) for rapid (real-time) microbiological quality control of raw poultry meat (chicken fillet), tests on the presence of pathogenic microorganisms, _Salmonella_ spp., and _Listeria monocytogenes_ were not performed. Analyzing the results of the total microbial count for chicken breast meat samples, it was found that the log of the cell count on the first day of storage was 4.15 CFU/g (Figure 1). This value was an acceptable level of microbial contamination; according to Commission Regulation (E.C.) no. 1441/2007 of 5 December 2007 on microbiological criteria for foodstuffs, the log of the total number of microorganisms should not exceed 6.70 CFU/g. It should also be noted that raw chicken fillets are characterized by initial contamination, which can be reduced by preliminary heat treatment. In subsequent days of storage, the number of microorganisms slowly increased, but on the fourth day, it was 6.21 log CFU/g, so it was within the established standard. A much higher microbial count of 7.38 log CFU/g was observed on day 6 and did not meet the recommended criteria. This indicates that it had spoiled and was not suitable for use. The number of _Enterobacteriaceae_ bacteria increased slowly during the 6 days of storage (Figure 1). In the first three days, it did not exceed the permissible value of 4 log CFU/g for _E. coli_, while from the 4 th to the 6 th day, it ranged from 4.18 to 4.83 log CFU/g and thus did not meet the criterion. Modified atmosphere packaging involves replacing atmospheric air with a gas or mixture of gases, mainly carbon dioxide and nitrogen. By lowering the concentration of oxygen while increasing the concentration of carbon dioxide, the effect of food spoilage agents can be reduced [22]. Figure 2 shows the changes in the content of individual gases during the storage of chicken fillets in packaging for 10 days under refrigerated conditions (4 \({}^{\circ}\)C). This study found that the oxygen content increased for the first four days (on day 4, it increased by 10.7% compared to day 2). For the following days up to day 8, the oxygen content leveled out at about 70.5%, and on the tenth day of storage (that is when the poultry meat had already shown signs of spoilage), it decreased to a level of 40.2%, that is, referring to the initial state by as much as 21.7%. Carbon dioxide content, on the other hand, remained stable, ranging from 25.3 to 24.6%. This likely indicates the development of aerobic bacteria in poultry meat stored in modified atmosphere packaging. This is confirmed by [PERSON] et al. [23], who state that the high oxygen content of packaging can contribute to aerobic microorganisms' growth, which inhibits anaerobic bacteria's growth. It also accelerates oxidative processes and makes it possible to preserve the attractive color of poultry meat. Figure 1: Changes in the total number of microorganisms and the number of _Enterobacteriaceae_ in samples of chicken breast meat during 10 days of its storage in modified atmosphere packaging at refrigeration temperature. Poutlry meat stored in contact with air is fresh for only three days. In a modified atmosphere, its shelf life is extended by up to seven days. Storing poultry meat under modified atmosphere conditions offers many advantages, particularly better sensory and microbiological quality and lower weight losses than traditional methods [24]. In the case of the study included in this paper, signs of spoilage were noted after 6 days of storage under modified atmosphere conditions at 4 \({}^{\circ}\)C (Figure 1).