ABSTRACT
Rasschaert et al. (2008) studied successively slaughtered poultry flocks to determine the relationship between gastrointestinal colonization of the birds with Salmonella and contamination of the carcasses after slaughter. Although only 7 (13%) of the broiler flocks were colonized with Salmonella at slaughter, the carcasses of 31
(55%) broiler flocks were contaminated after slaughter, indicating an increase of Salmonella prevalence throughout the processing operation. With regard to the layer and breeder flocks, 11 (69%) flocks were colonized in their gastrointestinal tracts, but after slaughter, carcasses of all flocks were contaminated (Rasschaert et al., 2008). ’e authors reported that Salmonella prevalence at the farm did not always correlate to prevalence at slaughter. In addition, Salmonella isolated from positive flocks did not result in the same Salmonella pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) types isolated from the gastrointestinal tract. Interestingly, when Salmonella-negative flocks were slaughtered, some became positive for Salmonella. Rasschaert et al. (2008) concluded that these data indicate possible cross contamination from the slaughter equipment or transport crates.
