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Title: Campylobacter, Salmonella and E. coli on broiler carcasses from commercial plants under HIMP inspection

Author
item Berrang, Mark
item Bailey, Joseph

Submitted to: Southern Poultry Science Society Meeting Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/15/2007
Publication Date: 1/21/2008
Citation: Berrang, M.E., Bailey, J.S. 2008. Campylobacter, Salmonella and E. coli on broiler carcasses from commercial plants under HIMP inspection. Southern Poultry Science Society Meeting Abstracts. 87(Supp1):134.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: The objective of this study was to determine the numbers of Campylobacter and E. coli as well as the prevalence of Salmonella on broiler carcasses processed in all commercial processing plants currently being inspected under the HACCP based Inspection Models Project (HIMP) of the USDA-FSIS. In 2006, 20 broiler processing plants were under HIMP inspection. A total of 10 carcasses were collected from each HIMP plant, five from re-hang and five post chill. Sample collection was timed so that the same flock was sampled at each site. All samples were subjected to a whole carcass rinse procedure; a portion of the rinsate was enriched for Salmonella detection while serial dilutions were directly plated for Campylobacter and E. coli. All results are reported as log CFU/mL rinse. Campylobacter numbers at re-hang ranged from 0.0 to 3.22 with a mean of 1.57; at post chill these numbers were significantly lower ranging from 0.0 to 0.69 with a mean of 0.04. E. coli numbers at re-hang ranged from 2.33 to 4.03 with a mean of 2.88; processing lowered these numbers to between 0.0 and 1.38 with a mean of 0.49 post chill. Salmonella prevalence at re-hang ranged from 0 to 100% with a mean of 54%; post chill the prevalence was from 0% to 60% with an average of 11% positive. A similar study was conducted in 2004 which included four of the same HIMP plants. In the current data, the numbers of Campylobacter and E. coli at re-hang were significantly lower than those recovered in 2004; however, the post chill numbers were not significantly different than the earlier study. These data show that processing broilers in plants under HIMP inspection continues to result in lessening the prevalence and numbers of bacteria on carcasses.