ARS | Publication request: PRESENCE AND LEVEL OF CAMPYLOBACTER ON BROILER PARTS WITH AND WITHOUT SKIN

Submitted to: Poultry Science
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: December 1, 2000
Publication Date: July 1, 2000
Citation: BERRANG, M.E., LADELY, S.R. PRESENCE AND LEVEL OF CAMPYLOBACTER ON BROILER PARTS WITH AND WITHOUT SKIN. JOURNAL OF POULTRY SCIENCE. 2000.

Technical Abstract: This study was undertaken to determine if the presence of skin on cut up broilers is related to the incidence or level of Campylobacter on the product. Breasts, thighs and legs with and without skin were purchased at a retail outlet for comparison. Products were paired by brand, plant and sell by date. Ten replications were done using two samples of each product with skin and two without skin in each replication (n=20). Five replications of a second experiment were conducted in which breasts, thighs and legs were purchased with skin on, and skin was removed aseptically in the laboratory. In each replication, of this second experiment, two samples of each part were skinned (n=10) and counts were compared with those found on paired parts with the skin intact. In both experiments, parts were rinsed in 50 ml of PBS and Campylobacter were detected by enrichment and enumerated by plating. Skin-on breast yielded log10 1.9 cfu/100 g serving while skin-off breast had 1.8. Skin-on thigh product had log10 2.2 cfu/100 g serving and skin-off had 2.1. With legs the level of Campylobacter per positive sample was log10 2.1 cfu/100 g serving regardless of the presence of skin. However, the incidence of Campylobacter detection did vary (P<0.01) on legs, 17+/20 for skin-on product and only 9+/20 for skin-off. Breasts with skin had an average of log10 2.3 cfu/100 g serving while breasts which were skinned had 2.2. Thighs with skin had an average of log10 2.4 cfu/100 g serving while thighs which were skinned had 2.2. Legs with skin had an average of log10 2.0 cfu/100 g serving while legs which were skinned had 2.1. This data demonstrates that removal of skin from fully processed broiler parts does not significantly change the level of Campylobacter present.