ABSTRACT
Campylobacter numbers on chickens during picking by placing food-grade organic acid into the cloaca of chickens before picking. Berrang et al. (2006b) reported that placement of food-grade organic acids in the cloaca of broiler carcasses may be useful as a means to lessen the impact of automated defeathering on the microbiological quality of carcasses during processing. In another study, Berrang et al. (2006a) reported that Campylobacter numbers recovered from broiler carcass skin samples increased during automated feather removal. ’e authors placed vinegar into the colons of the chickens prior to scalding. Carcasses were then scalded, and Campylobacter numbers were determined on breast skin before and after passage through a commercial-style picker. Campylobacter numbers recovered from the breast skin of untreated control carcasses increased during feather removal from 1.3 log10 CFU per sample prior to defeathering to 4.2 log10 CFU afterward. Berrang et al. (2006a) found that Campylobacter numbers recovered from the breast skin of carcasses treated with vinegar also increased during defeathering, but to a significantly lesser extent. Treated carcasses experienced only a 1.0 log10 increase from 1.6 log10 CFU per sample before feather removal to 2.6 log10 CFU per sample afterward. Although this method may not be a practical approach, the authors concluded that application of an effective food-grade antimicrobial in the colon prior to scald may limit the increase in Campylobacter contamination of broiler carcasses during defeathering. It is possible that this unique approach may also be used for Salmonella reduction.
