ABSTRACT
In 2003, Goode et al. studied the effect of lytic bacteriophages (Figures 25.1 and 25.2) applied to chicken skin that had been experimentally contaminated with Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis (SE) or Campylobacter jejuni. Phages rapidly reduced the recoverable bacterial numbers by up to 2 log10 colony-forming units (CFU)/mL over 48 hours (Goode et al., 2003). It is important to note that samples to be tested for Salmonella must be collected from carcasses by inspectors from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food Safety Inspection Service (USDA-FSIS), within 1.5 hours of slaughter. ’ese samples are tested within 24 hours of collection. ’us, the total time from application of the phages to the testing of the sample
is only 25.5 hours, which is far less than the time used in this study (48 hours). It is likely that Salmonella and Campylobacter numbers were reduced in less time than used for this study, and this methodology would be effective in practical application. Bielke et al. (2007) studied the effect of bacteriophages targeted against Salmonella and applied to poultry carcasses. Fresh-processed chicken carcasses were inoculated with either SE or Salmonella Typhimurium (ST) and sprayed with 5 mL of bacteriophage. ’e authors found that the bacteriophages significantly reduced the recovery of SE. No SE was detected in two trials, and greater than 70% reduction was seen in the other two trials. ST was also significantly reduced in the two trials in which it was included. Bielke et al. (2007) concluded that their experiments suggested that bacteriophages could be an inexpensive and safe method for the reduction of Salmonella on broiler carcasses.
