title: The quantitative and qualitative recovery of Campylobacter from raw poultry using USDA and Health Canada methods.
abstract: Harmonisation of methods between Canadian government agencies is essential to accurately assess and compare the prevalence and concentrations present on retail poultry intended for human consumption. The standard qualitative procedure used by Health Canada differs to that used by the USDA for both quantitative and qualitative methods. A comparison of three methods was performed on raw poultry samples obtained from an abattoir to determine if one method is superior to the others in isolating Campylobacter from chicken carcass rinses. The average percent of positive samples was 34.72% (95% CI, 29.2-40.2), 39.24% (95% CI, 33.6-44.9), 39.93% (95% CI, 34.3-45.6) for the direct plating US method and the US enrichment and Health Canada enrichment methods, respectively. Overall there were significant differences when comparing either of the enrichment methods to the direct plating method using the McNemars chi squared test. On comparison of weekly data (Fishers exact test) direct plating was only inferior to the enrichment methods on a single occasion. Direct plating is important for enumeration and establishing the concentration of Campylobacter present on raw poultry. However, enrichment methods are also vital to identify positive samples where concentrations are below the detection limit for direct plating.
authors.affiliation: Bureau of Microbial Hazards, Health Canada, 251 Sir Frederick Banting Driveway, Ottawa, ON, Canada K1A 0K9. Electronic address: emma.sproston@hc-sc.gc.ca.
authors.forename: E L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Sproston
authors.affiliation: Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Ottawa Laboratory (Carling), Bldg 22, CEF, 960 Carling Avenue, Ottawa, ON, Canada K1A 0C9.
authors.forename: C D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Carrillo
authors.affiliation: Food Safety Science Unit, Food Safety and Environment Division, Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food, Guelph, ON, Canada N1G 4Y2.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Boulter-Bitzer
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002167:Campylobacter / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D002170:Canada; D002645:Chickens; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000032:analysis; D005516:Food Microbiology / Q000379:methods* / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards; D008460:Meat / Q000382:microbiology*; D014481:United States; D016885:United States Department of Agriculture
keywords: Campylobacter; Chicken; Comparison; Method