Antimicrobials for reduction of Salmonella contamination in uncooked, surface-browned breaded chicken products.
Surface-browned but uncooked frozen breaded chicken products have been associated with salmonellosis outbreaks due to inadequate or no cooking of the products before consumption. This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of three antimicrobials against Salmonella during  manufacture of a surface-browned, uncooked frozen breaded chicken meat product. Fresh chicken breast meat portions (5 by 5 by 5 cm) were inoculated (4 to 5 log CFU/g) with Salmonella and mixed with caprylic acid (CAA; 0.5 and 1.0%), carvacrol (CAR; 0.3 and 0.5%), ε-polylysine (POL;  0.125 and 0.25%), or distilled water (control). Sodium chloride (1.2%) and sodium tripolyphosphate (0.3%) were added to all treatments, and the mixtures were ground (5% total moisture enhancement level) and formed into portions (9 by 5 by 3 cm). The products were breaded and surface browned  by baking in an oven (208°C for 15 min) or deep frying in vegetable oil (190°C for 15 s), packaged in polyethylene bags, and stored at -20°C for 7 days. Total reductions of inoculated Salmonella in untreated control oven- or fryer-browned products after frozen storage  were 1.2 and 0.8 log CFU/g, respectively. In comparison, treatment with CAA, CAR, or POL reduced initial pathogen counts by 3.3 to >4.5, 4.1 to >4.7, and 1.1 to 1.6 log CFU/g, respectively, regardless of the antimicrobial concentration and browning method. Treatment with 1.0% CAA (oven  browned) or 0.5% CAR (oven or fryer browned) reduced Salmonella to nondetectable levels (<0.3 log CFU/g) in stored frozen products. These data may be useful for development of suitable antimicrobial treatments to reduce the risk of Salmonella contamination in surface-browned,  uncooked frozen breaded chicken products.
Center for Meat Safety & Quality, Department of Animal Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523-1171, USA.
Galatios
G
Moschonas
Ifigenia
I
Geornaras
Jarret D
JD
Stopforth
Damien
D
Wach
Dale R
DR
Woerner
Keith E
KE
Belk
Gary C
GC
Smith
John N
JN
Sofos
D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002645:Chickens; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D003257:Consumer Product Safety; D003296:Cooking / Q000379:methods*; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000032:analysis / Q000517:prevention & control; D005511:Food Handling / Q000379:methods; D005516:Food Microbiology; D005628:Frozen Foods / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D011202:Poultry Products / Q000382:microbiology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012478:Salmonella Food Poisoning / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents