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Title: Post-chill antimicrobial treatments to control Salmonella, Listeria and Campylobacter contamination on chicken skin used in ground chicken

Author
item PARK, SUEJEE - University Of Georgia
item HARRISON, MARK - University Of Georgia
item Berrang, Mark

Submitted to: Journal of Food Protection
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/15/2016
Publication Date: 5/1/2017
Citation: Park, S., Harrison, M., Berrang, M.E. 2017. Post-chill antimicrobial treatments to control Salmonella, Listeria and Campylobacter contamination on chicken skin used in ground chicken. Journal of Food Protection. 80:857-862.

Interpretive Summary: Salmonella, Campylobacter and Listeria monocytogenes are all human pathogens that have been associated with poultry and poultry products. Ground chicken meat is of special concern because many lots are mixed presenting the opportunity for cross contamination in a high surface area final product. We tested several antimicrobial chemical treatments to kill inoculated pathogens on chicken skin prior to grinding. Salmonella, Campylobacter and Listeria were inoculated onto chicken skin. Inoculated skin was treated by immersion in 50 ppm chlorine or 0.12% peracetic acid or water as a control. All skin samples were used to along with breast meat to formulate ground chicken in individual sterile grinders. Numbers of each pathogen were determined and compared. Chlorine at 50 ppm helped to control the bacterial numbers in the treatment water, but not in the ground chicken product. Peracetic acid treatment of inoculated breast meat was effective to lessen the numbers of Salmonella, Campylobacter and Listeria in ground chicken from those breasts. Peracetic acid treatment prior to grinding may have utility to control bacterial contamination in commercially prepared ground chicken product.

Technical Abstract: Ground poultry products are frequently contaminated with foodborne pathogens. With increased regulatory guidelines from USDA-FSIS, it is important to employ sufficient intervention strategies to control pathogen levels effectively. In this research, antimicrobials including 50 ppm chlorine and 1,200 ppm peracetic acid (PAA) were used in a post-chill system to reduce the number of inoculated Salmonella Typhimurium, Listeria monocytogenes, and Campylobacter coli. Results showed that the chlorine provided no significant effect in reducing the number of pathogens on ground chicken when compared to water treatment, but it did help decrease pathogens in chill water. PAA was found to be the more effective (p less than 0.05) antimicrobial, not only in reducing the number of pathogens on ground chicken but also in post-chill water. Using PAA can be an effective intervention strategy to lessen contamination on chicken skin prior to grinding.