title: Chemical additive to enhance antimicrobial efficacy of chlorine and control cross-contamination during immersion chill of broiler carcasses.
abstract: Immersion chilling of broiler carcasses can be a site for cross-contamination between the occasional highly contaminated carcass and those that are co-chilled. Chlorine is often used as an antimicrobial but can be overcome by organic material. A proprietary chlorine stabilizer (T-128) based on phosphoric acid-propylene glycol was tested as a chill tank additive in experiments simulating commercial broiler chilling. In bench-scale experiments, 0.5% T-128 was compared with plain water (control), 50 ppm of chlorine, and the combination of 0.5% T-128 with 50 ppm of chlorine to control transfer of Salmonella and Campylobacter from inoculated wing drummettes to co-chilled uninoculated drummettes. Both chlorine and T-128 lessened cross-contamination with Salmonella (P < 0.05); T-128 and T-128 with chlorine were significantly more effective (P < 0.05) than the control or plain chlorine for control of Campylobacter. T-128 treatments were noted to have a pH of less than 4.0; an additional experiment demonstrated that the antimicrobial effect of T-128 was not due merely to a lower pH. In commercial broiler chilling, a pH close to 6.0 is preferred to maximize chlorine effectiveness, while maintaining water-holding capacity of the meat. In a set of pilot-scale experiments with T-128, a near-ideal pH of 6.3 was achieved by using tap water instead of the distilled water used in bench-scale experiments. Pilot-scale chill tanks were used to compare the combination of 0.5% T-128 and 50 ppm of chlorine with 50 ppm of plain chlorine for control of cross-contamination between whole carcasses inoculated with Salmonella and Campylobacter and co-chilled uninoculated carcasses. The T-128 treatment resulted in significantly less crosscontamination by either direct contact or water transfer with both organisms compared with plain chlorine treatment. T-128 may have use in commercial broiler processing to enhance the effectiveness of chlorine in processing water.
authors.affiliation: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Russell Research Center, Athens, Georgia 30605, USA; Coca Cola Co., 1 Coca Cola Plaza, Atlanta, GA 30313, USA.
authors.forename: B T
authors.initials: BT
authors.lastname: Schambach
authors.affiliation: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Russell Research Center, Athens, Georgia 30605, USA. mark.berrang@ars.usda.gov.
authors.forename: M E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Berrang
authors.affiliation: University of Georgia, Food Science and Technology Department, Athens, Georgia 30602, USA.
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Harrison
authors.affiliation: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Russell Research Center, Athens, Georgia 30605, USA.
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Meinersmann
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002167:Campylobacter / Q000187:drug effects; D002645:Chickens; D002713:Chlorine / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005511:Food Handling / Q000379:methods*; D008460:Meat / Q000382:microbiology*; D010756:Phosphoric Acids / Q000737:chemistry; D019946:Propylene Glycol / Q000737:chemistry; D012475:Salmonella / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D010756:Phosphoric Acids; D002713:Chlorine; D019946:Propylene Glycol