Can animal welfare have an impact on food safety? A study in the poultry production chain

Background Animal welfare is a major issue in the production of food of animal origin. A project funded by the Italian Ministry of Health was carried out in order to collect scientific evidence that animal welfare is not only an ethical issue, but should also be related to food safety. Methods The project was carried out along an Italian integrated poultry production chain. Animal welfare was measured at farm in 13 broiler chicken batches, including 2 organic, using Welfare Quality®, an animal- and resource-based internationally recognised protocol. Samples for the detection and enumeration of Campylobacter, Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes were taken at different levels, from the live animal (faeces at farm and after transport) to the end product (caecal content and carcass skin at slaughterhouse), with a total of 2,080 samples. Strains were deeply characterised (serotyping, PFGE). Results Higher welfare scores were reported in organic batches. Transports to the slaughterhouse longer than 1 hour were associated to increased Campylobacter prevalence. Significantly lower Campylobacter concentrations both in faeces and carcass (P < 0.05) were reported in organic batches. Low-welfare batches showed higher prevalence of Salmonella, with statistically significant difference compared to high-welfare batches (43.6% versus 2.9% in carcass; 19.3% versus 0% in caecal content; P < 0.00001). L. monocytogenes was never found in faeces, in contrast with high prevalence in carcases (up to 72.5%) with undistinguishable genetic profiles recurrent in different batches after long time (up to 18 months). Conclusions Our results support the hypothesis that poultry meat contamination is influenced by the welfare or stress which broilers experience during their life. Longer transports enhance Campylobacter prevalence. L. monocytogenes in poultry meat should not be linked to increased stress but rather to persistent contamination in the slaughterhouse processing environment. Key messages “High-welfare” broiler chicken batches show lower Campylobacter and Salmonella contamination compared to “Low-welfare” batches. Microbiological safety of poultry meat can be improved by the application of high animal welfare standards at farm and during transport.