Agrosecurity

Salmonella Levels on Fresh Broiler Chickens

The USDA-Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) conducts routine Salmonella testing on broiler chicken carcasses in poultry plants throughout the U.S. If 23 percent over a 51-day period are positive for Salmonella, the plant receives a strike. If the plant receives three strikes, the plant is shutdown until the processor can prove to the USDA-FSIS that it is producing carcasses with less than 23 percent prevalence for Salmonella. Many major poultry processors are having difficulty achieving this standard. A UGA poultry scientist conducted a series of in-plant trials to determine if a novel sanitizer, called Tasker Blue, could be added to scalder water to reduce Salmonella prevalence on incoming carcasses. Immediately after scalding, the carcasses that were positive for Salmonella on the control (non-treated) flocks averaged 35 percent. The carcasses that were positive for Salmonella for the flocks scalded in water treated with Tasker Blue added averaged 3 percent. All of the control flocks were positive for Salmonella post-scalding, whereas when the scalder was treated with Tasker Blue, only 4 of 13 flocks had any Salmonella and the prevalence on those flocks was only 10 percent. The average percent reduction across all days of sampling was 32 percent. The results from this research indicate that using Tasker Blue in the scalder may dramatically reduce the percentage of carcasses coming into the plant that are positive for Salmonella. This technology should assist processors in meeting the Salmonella Performance Standard set by the USDA-FSIS.

Source: Scott Russell, Department of Poultry Science (2006)

top