Aerobic plate count, Salmonella and Campylobacter loads of whole bird carcass rinses from pre-chillers with different water management strategies in a commercial poultry processing plant

Abstract

Salmonella and Campylobacter are significant issues for poultry processors because of increasing regulatory standards as well as public health concerns. The goal of this study is to report the effects of two different pre-chiller systems that utilize different temperatures and water recirculation systems on whole bird carcass rinsates. Both pre-chiller tanks were contained within a single poultry processing facility and operated at different temperatures and water systems. The incidence of Campylobacter spp. and Salmonella spp., as well as the aerobic plate counts on whole bird carcass rinses are reported in this study from each pre-chiller system. The results from this study reveal that there are significant differences in how microbial populations and pathogens change over time in each pre-chiller system. Furthermore, we identify that these patterns are different per system. Such data are impactful as it indicates that measuring carcasses within a plant must consider both temperature and water recirculation as it may prevent comparability of different lines within a single processing facility.

Keywords:

• Poultry
• pre-chiller temperature
• aerobic plate counts
• Campylobacter
• Salmonella

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Acknowledgments

The author DD would like to acknowledge the Graduate College at the University of Arkansas for its support through the Distinguished Academy Fellowship, the continued support from the Cell and Molecular Biology Program and Department of Food Science at the University of Arkansas.

Additional information

Funding

The author DD would like to acknowledge the continued support from the Center for Advanced Surface Engineering, under the National Science Foundation Grant No. OIA-1457888 and the Arkansas EPSCoR Program, ASSET III.