Meat starter cultures are maturation and surface starters used to accelerate the fermentation process, maximize the quality, and guarantee uniformity and safety of the product. This review discusses the beneficial role of meat starter cultures in the acceleration and promotion of the fermentation process by rapid matrix acidification, standardization of the product properties, improvement in organoleptic properties, enhancing microbiological and chemical safety by inhibiting the growth of pathogenic organisms and limiting the formation of biogenic amines, nitrosamines, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. The recent advances in genomics and molecular biology of industrially useful microorganisms with the desirable functional and protective features and rational improvement of the starter strains to develop product-specific starter cultures have been highlighted.