title: Salmonella prevalence in free-range and certified organic chickens.
abstract: Many consumers assume that broiler chickens grownunder traditional commercial conditions will have more Salmonella than free-range or organic chickens, which usually are less crowded, have access to outside spaces during grow out, and are fed special diets. Despite these perceptions, there is a lack of published information about the microbiological status of free-range and organic chickens. A total of 135 processed free-range chickens from four different commercial free-range chicken producers were sampled in 14 different lots for the presence of Salmonella. Overall, 9 (64%) of 14 lots and 42 (31%) of 135 of the carcasses were positive for Salmonella. No Salmonella were detected in 5 of the 14 lots, and in one lot 100% of the chickens were positive for Salmonella. An additional 53 all-natural (no meat or poultry meal or antibiotics in the feed) processed chickens from eight lots were tested; 25% ofthe individual chickens from 37% of these lots tested positive for Salmonella. Three lots of chickens from a single organicfree-range producer were tested, and all three of the lots and 60% of the individual chickens were positive for Salmonella.The U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service reported that commercial chickens processed from 2000 to 2003 had a Salmonella prevalence rate of 9.1 to 12.8%. Consumers should not assume that free-range or organicconditions will have anything to do with the Salmonella status of the chicken.
authors.affiliation: US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, P.O. Box 5677, Athens, Georgia 30604-5677, USA. jsbailey@saa.ars.usda.gov
authors.forename: J S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Bailey
authors.forename: D E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Cosby
mesh_terms: D000003:Abattoirs; D000822:Animal Husbandry / Q000379:methods*; D000818:Animals; D002645:Chickens / Q000382:microbiology*; D003257:Consumer Product Safety; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000032:analysis* / Q000517:prevention & control; D005516:Food Microbiology; D058870:Food, Organic; D006801:Humans; D015995:Prevalence; D012475:Salmonella / Q000302:isolation & purification*