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ARS Home » Plains Area » College Station, Texas » Southern Plains Agricultural Research Center » Food and Feed Safety Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #141111
Title: IMPACT OF THE CHILLER ENVIRONMENT ON CAMPYLOBACTER CARCASSES DURING TURKEY PROCESSING

Author
item Byrd Ii, James - Allen
item CAVITT, J - TX A&M UNIV
item MCELROY, A - VIRGINIA TECH
item Nisbet, David
item Caldwell, David

Submitted to: Poultry Science
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/20/2003
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: A study was conducted to determine the effects of immersion chilling on the incidence of Campylobacter recovery from processed carcasses. One hundred pre-chill and 100 post-chill turkey carcasses were collected from 6 individual processing facilities located in 6 states on 2 consecutive days. All carcasses were subjected to a whole carcass rinse using 200 mL of buffered peptone water and the recovered rinsate was enriched in Bolton¿s Broth at 42 deg C for 24 h. The enriched rinsate was streaked on Campy-ceflex plates and incubated 48h at 42 deg C in a microaerophilic environment for Campylobacter detection. The intervention strategies used in the plants are as follows: Plant 1 (sodium hypochlorite; ClO), Plant 2 (chlorine dioxide; ClO2), Plant 3 (potassium ClO), Plant 4 (chlorine gas + sodium ClO), Plant 5 (calcium ClO), and Plant 6 (ClO2 + ozone treatment of recirculated water). Pre-chill and post-processing chill immersion tank characteristics and management methodologies were also recorded for each plant for both days. The reduction in the incidence of Day1/Day 2 Campylobacter found for Plant 1-6 are as follows: Plant 1 (7%/4%), Plant 2 (18.9%/76.1%), Plant 3 (88.5%/98.3%), Plant 4 (33.3% increase/50% increase), Plant 5 (69.5%/88.2%), and Plant 6 (67.4%/75%). Significant (P< .025) post-chill reductions in incidence of Campylobacter were observed during both days of samplings in Plants 2, 3, 5, and 6, indicating the effectiveness of these selected chiller intervention strategies on bacterial remediation. This data suggest that management of the chill immersion environment, including the represented intervention strategies, is effective for reducing the spread of Campylobacter on processed turkey carcasses.