The objective of this study was to investigate the color development and shelf-life effect of low-fat sausages (LFS) during refrigerated storage according to the additions of sodium lactate (SL), chitosan, and lac pigment. The LFS samples had $73{sim}76%$ moisture, $3{sim}4%$ fat, and $13{sim}16%$ protein with a pH range of 6.4-6.6. The addition of chitosan ($MW;=;30{sim}40;kDa$) to LFS increased most textural properties. Hunter a (redness) values were increased by the addition of 0.05% lac pigment. The microbial growth of Listeria monocytogenes increased with increasing storage time. The addition of 2% SL and 0.3% chitosan with MW higher than $30{sim}40;kDa$ effectively inhibited the growth of L. monocytogenes. The microbial growth of L. monocytogenes was further reduced with increasing chitosan MW. These results indicated that the combination of SL with chitosans (MW > 30 kDa, 0.3%) and lac pigment (0.05%) improved shelf-life and color development in LFS during refrigerated storage.