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Detection of the site of contamination by Staphylococcus aureus within the defeathering machinery of a poultry processing plant
Author(s) -
Dodd C.E.R.,
Mead G.C.,
Waites W.M.
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
letters in applied microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.698
H-Index - 110
eISSN - 1472-765X
pISSN - 0266-8254
DOI - 10.1111/j.1472-765x.1988.tb01253.x
Subject(s) - library science , agriculture , food microbiology , biology , archaeology , geography , computer science , bacteria , genetics
Counts of Staphylococcus aureus from samples of neck skin taken from poultry carcasses at different stages of processing showed that the numbers decreased approximately 10‐fold during scalding but increased by almost 1000‐fold during plucking, reaching up to 10 4 /g. Swab samples taken from the defeathering machinery yielded counts of ca. 10 3 /swab at the entry to the first plucker but these increased to ca. 10 7 at the exit, with a subsequent decrease through the second and third machines. Counts of other organisms growing on the Baird‐Parker isolation medium showed much lower levels at the exit to the first plucker, suggesting that this was the major site of contamination at which S. aureus grew preferentially. Data obtained from four visits to the processing plant over a period of 10 months suggested that the incidence of S. aureus on the birds is affected by the season (summer or winter) whereas levels in the plucking machines depended on the day of sampling.