ARS | Publication request: Salmonella recovery following air chilling for matched neck-skin and whole carcass sampling methodologies

Submitted to: Poultry Science
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: March 2, 2010
Publication Date: July 11, 2010
Citation: Buhr, R.J., Cason Jr, J.A., Rigsby, L.L., Bourassa, D.V. 2010. Salmonella recovery following air chilling for matched neck-skin and whole carcass sampling methodologies. Poultry Science.

Technical Abstract: The prevalence and serogroups of Salmonella recovered following air chilling were determined for both enriched neck skin and matching enriched whole carcass samples. Commercially processed and eviscerated carcasses were air chilled to 4C before removing the neck skin (8.3 g) and stomaching in 83 mL buffered peptone water. The remaining carcass was subjected to whole carcass enrichment in 500 mL buffered peptone water. Both neck skins and whole carcasses were incubated at 37C for 24 h before aliquots were transferred to selective enrichment broths (RV and TT). Following incubation, BGS and MLIA plates were streaked and incubated. Three typical colonies were individually stabbed into TSI and LIA slants. For neck skin samples, 14/18 were Salmonella-positive with 5 identified as serogroup C1, 8 serogroup C3, and 2 serogroup E. For whole carcasses 16/18 carcasses were Salmonella-positive with 1 identified as serogroup B, 6 serogroup C1, 9 serogroup C3, and 2 serogroup E. Two Salmonella serogroups were detected from one neck skin (C3/E) sample and from two non-matching carcasses (C1/C3 and C3/E). All four of the negative neck skin samples had Salmonella-positive matching whole carcasses and the two negative whole carcasses had Salmonella-positive matching neck skin samples. Selecting three individual colonies, versus only one, from BGS and MLIA plates resulted in 2 additional Salmonella-positive neck skin (C1) samples and 2 additional Salmonella-positive carcasses (C1 and C3). In this study, individual neck skin enrichment and whole carcass enrichment sampling methodologies were comparable in the prevalence detection of Salmonella from matched air-chilled carcasses.