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The role of visible faecal material as a vehicle for generic Escherichia coli , coliform, and other enterobacteria contaminating poultry carcasses during slaughtering
Author(s) -
Jiménez S.M.,
Tiburzi M.C.,
Salsi M.S.,
Pirovani M.E.,
Moguilevsky M.A.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
journal of applied microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.889
H-Index - 156
eISSN - 1365-2672
pISSN - 1364-5072
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2672.2003.01993.x
Subject(s) - contamination , enterobacter cloacae , fecal coliform , enterobacteriaceae , evisceration (ophthalmology) , biology , escherichia coli , enterobacter , food contaminant , veterinary medicine , broiler , microbiology and biotechnology , feces , food science , salmonella , water quality , bacteria , ecology , medicine , biochemistry , genetics , alternative medicine , pathology , gene
Aims: A comparison of Enterobacteriaceae, coliform and Escherichia coli counts in chicken carcasses with and without visible faecal contamination was conducted to evaluate the role of contamination as a vehicle for generic E. coli , coliform and other enterobacteria contaminating broiler chicken carcasses when processed under routine commercial operations. Methods and Results: Samples were removed from the processing line immediately after evisceration, inside–outside shower and chilling for microbiological analysis. After evisceration, mean counts were significantly different only for E. coli ( P ≤ 0·05) in chicken carcasses with and without visible faecal contamination. While the spray wash practice was not efficient enough for complete removal of the visible contamination from carcasses, leading to microbiological reduction percentages lower than expected, 25 ppm chlorinated water chilling did reduce the contamination level considerably in all samples. Conclusions: Carcasses with and without visible faecal contamination harboured E. coli and other potentially hazardous enterobacteria. E. coli was the predominant strain isolated in all samples, Enterobacter cloacae being next most frequent. Significance and Impact of the Study: The zero tolerance of visible faecal contamination requirement alone is not sufficient to assure safety and to improve the microbial quality of carcasses.