Beef trimmings were treated with 0.5% cetylpyridinium chloride followed by 10% trisodium phosphate (CT), 200-ppm chlorine dioxide followed by 0.5% cetylpyridinium chloride (CLC), 200-ppm chlorine dioxide followed by 10% trisodium phosphate (CLT), or 2% lactic acid followed by 0.5% cetylpyridinium chloride (LC). The trimmings were ground, packaged and sampled at 0, 1, 2, 3 and 7 days of simulated retail display and compared with an untreated control (C) for instrumental color, sensory color and odor and TBARS (Thiobarbituric acid reactive substances) characteristics. Ground beef from the LC and CLC treatments were lighter (P <0.05; L*) than C. The LC and CT ground beef samples were similar (P > 0.05) in vividness to C. On day 3, CT was scored redder (P <0.05) than C. Therefore, the use of CT, CLT, CLC and LC had little impact on ground beef color and CT improved ground beef color shelf life.