title: Quantitative effects of in-line operations on Campylobacter and Escherichia coli through two Australian broiler processing plants.
abstract: Campylobacter is an important food borne pathogen, mainly associated with poultry. A lack of through-chain quantitative Campylobacter data has been highlighted within quantitative risk assessments. The aim of this study was to quantitatively and qualitatively measure Campylobacter and Escherichia coli concentration on chicken carcasses through poultry slaughter. Chickens (n=240) were sampled from each of four flocks along the processing chain, before scald, after scald, before chill, after chill, after packaging and from individual caeca. The overall prevalence of Campylobacter after packaging was 83% with a median concentration of 0.8log10CFU/mL. The processing points of scalding and chilling had significant mean reductions of both Campylobacter (1.8 and 2.9log10CFU/carcase) and E. coli (1.3 and 2.5log10CFU/carcase). The concentration of E. coli and Campylobacter was significantly correlated throughout processing indicating that E. coli may be a useful indicator organism for reductions in Campylobacter concentration. The carriage of species varied between flocks, with two flocks dominated by Campylobacter coli and two flocks dominated by Campylobacter jejuni. Current processing practices can lead to significant reductions in the concentration of Campylobacter on carcasses. Further understanding of the variable effect of processing on Campylobacter and the survival of specific genotypes may enable more targeted interventions to reduce the concentration of this poultry associated pathogen.
authors.affiliation: CSIRO Animal, Food and Health Sciences, 39 Kessels Road, Coopers Plains, Brisbane 4108, Australia; The University of Queensland, School of Veterinary Science, Gatton 4343, Australia. Electronic address: Lesley.Duffy@csiro.au.
authors.forename: Lesley L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Duffy
authors.affiliation: The University of Queensland, Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation, 41 Boggo Road, Dutton Park, Brisbane 4102, Australia. Electronic address: pblackall@uq.edu.au.
authors.forename: Patrick J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Blackall
authors.affiliation: The University of Queensland, School of Veterinary Science, Gatton 4343, Australia. Electronic address: rcobbold@uq.edu.au.
authors.forename: Rowland N
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Cobbold
authors.affiliation: CSIRO Animal, Food & Health Sciences, Werribee, Australia. Electronic address: Narelle.Fegan@csiro.au.
authors.forename: Narelle
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Fegan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001315:Australia; D002167:Campylobacter / Q000502:physiology*; D002645:Chickens; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000502:physiology*; D005511:Food Handling / Q000592:standards*; D005516:Food Microbiology; D008460:Meat / Q000382:microbiology*; D008462:Meat-Packing Industry / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D018570:Risk Assessment
keywords: Campylobacter; E. coli; Poultry processing