Water and air in two poultry processing plants' chilling facilities-a bacteriological survey

Abstract

1. Water, aerosols and air in chilling facilities in 2 poultry abattoirs were bacteriologically examined. The different types of samples displayed a variety of bacterial loads and genera. 2. The aerobic plate count in water from spray nozzles was about log10 2 to 3 in both plants. Flavobacterium, Alcaligenes , Acinetobacter and Pseudomonadaceae were predominant in these samples. 3. The microbial load in air of the 2 plants was quite different, consisting mainly of Micrococcaceae and Gram-positive irregular rods. 4. The aerobic plate count in aerosols was extremely high. The flora was the same as was found in the spray nozzles samples, plus Enterobacteriaceae , Micrococcaceae and streptococci , which presumably came from the air in the system. Cross-contamination may well occur in evaporative chilling.