Skip to main content
ARS Home » Plains Area » College Station, Texas » Southern Plains Agricultural Research Center » Food and Feed Safety Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #139012
Title: EFFECT OF EXPERIMENTAL CHLORATE PRODUCT ADMINISTRATION IN THE DRINKING WATER ON SALMONELLA TYPHIMURIUM CONTAMINATION OF BROILERS

Author
item Byrd Ii, James - Allen
item Anderson, Robin
item Callaway, Todd
item Moore, Randle
item KNAPE, KOYLE - TX A&M UNIVERSITY
item Kubena, Leon
item ZIPRIN, RICHARD - 6202-40-30
item Nisbet, David

Submitted to: Poultry Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/29/2003
Publication Date: 9/20/2003
Citation: Byrd II, J.A., Anderson, R.C., Callaway, T.R., Moore, R.W., Knape, K., Kubena, L.F., Ziprin, R.L., Nisbet, D.J. 2003. Effect of experimental chlorate product administration in the drinking water on Salmonella typhimurium contamination of broilers. Poultry Science. 82:1403-1406.

Interpretive Summary: Escherichia coli and Salmonella are important foodborne pathogens that cause potentially fatal disease in humans. These bacteria possess an enzyme that converts chlorate to chlorite that will cause chlorite to accumulate inside the bacterium and cause it to eventually die. Since this activity kills the bad bacteria, we tested and found that administering a chlorate product in the drinking water of chickens will significantly reduce gut concentrations of Salmonella. The chlorate has been shown not to harm potentially beneficial bacteria. These results demonstrate that providing chlorate to chickens just before slaughter may be a way to reduce Salmonella concentrations which ultimately will help farmers and packing plant operators produce safer poultry products for human consumption.

Technical Abstract: The crop is a known source of Salmonella and Campylobacter contamination. Previously, we evaluated lactic acid in the drinking water during a simulated pre-transport feed withdrawal (FW) and reported 0.44% lactic acid significantly (P < 0.05) reduced the number of Salmonella recovered in market-age broiler crops. However, total consumption of the organic acid-treated drinking water was reduced. Presently, we evaluated the effect of experimental chlorate product (ECP; 1X ECP is equivalent to a 15 mM chlorate ion concentration) during a 10 hour pre-transport FW. Market-age broilers were obtained from a commercial processing plant and randomly assigned to ECP-treated or control (non-treated) groups. Broilers were challenged by crop gavage with 10**8 Salmonella typhimurium (ST) immediately upon arrival and 1 day prior to termination of the experiment. One day later, broilers were killed for ST cfu enumeration in the crop and ceca. Broilers provided ECP 24 hours prior to slaughter were found to consume slightly more ECP-water than broilers provided distilled water. Treatment with ECP caused a significant decrease (P < 0.05) in the incidence of ST in crop contents (2%) as compared to the controls (36.7%). Similarly, ECP treatment caused a significant decrease (P < 0.05) in number of ST (0.96 log10 ST/g cecal content) detected in the ceca when compared to controls (2.52 log10 ST). This study suggests that incorporation of ECP in the drinking water 24-48 hours prior to slaughter can reduce Salmonella contamination in broilers.