title: Preharvest Salmonella Detection for Evaluation of Fresh Ground Poultry Product Contamination.
abstract: Salmonella is an important economic and public health concern for the poultry industry. Fresh ground product has been linked with multiple salmonellosis outbreaks in humans. Exposure can be controlled by proper handling and preparation by consumers; however, the industry desires to minimize carriage levels in the final product. A substantial obstacle in reducing product contamination stems from limitations in diagnostic methodologies. Detection of Salmonella contamination currently requires extended incubation periods, and by the time test results are available, the fresh product has reached retail shelves. The goal of this study was to develop a preharvest diagnostic protocol for the evaluation of ground product contamination. The turkey processing plant where this research was conducted had previously established Salmonella screening (BAX system) of ground product, thus providing an opportunity for preharvest sample comparison. Drag swabs were collected from live-haul trailers entering the processing plant over a 12-month period. The swabs were added to modified buffered peptone water and incubated at 40°C. After incubation for 6 h or overnight, samples were tested for the presence of Salmonella with the DNAble assay and related to ground turkey samples from corresponding lots. The linear relationship for the percentage of Salmonella-positive live-haul trailers was significant for both the 6-h (slope = 1.02, R(2) = 0.96, and P < 0.0001) and overnight (slope = 0.35, R(2) = 0.93, and P = 0.0015) incubations, with the percentage of Salmonella-positive ground turkey samples. These data indicate that preharvest screening provides a meaningful evaluation of product contamination. Additionally, the 6-h incubation protocol is rapid enough to allow for product mitigation and could potentially aid in the reduction of future salmonellosis outbreaks.
authors.affiliation: Department of Population Health Sciences, Virginia Tech, Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, 1410 Prices Fork Road, Blacksburg, Virginia 24060, USA. nievans@vt.edu.
authors.forename: Nicholas P
authors.initials: NP
authors.lastname: Evans
authors.affiliation: Cargill Turkey Products LLC., 1 Kratzer Avenue, Harrisonburg, Virginia 22801, USA.
authors.forename: Robert D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Evans
authors.affiliation: Department of Population Health Sciences, Virginia Tech, Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, 1410 Prices Fork Road, Blacksburg, Virginia 24060, USA.
authors.forename: Jason
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Regalado
authors.affiliation: Department of Population Health Sciences, Virginia Tech, Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, 1410 Prices Fork Road, Blacksburg, Virginia 24060, USA.
authors.forename: Joseph F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Sullivan
authors.affiliation: EnviroLogix Inc., 500 Riverside Industrial Parkway, Portland, Maine 04103, USA.
authors.forename: Vikrant
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Dutta
authors.affiliation: Department of Population Health Sciences, Virginia Tech, Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, 1410 Prices Fork Road, Blacksburg, Virginia 24060, USA.
authors.forename: Francois
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Elvinger
authors.affiliation: Department of Population Health Sciences, Virginia Tech, Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, 1410 Prices Fork Road, Blacksburg, Virginia 24060, USA.
authors.forename: F William
authors.initials: FW
authors.lastname: Pierson
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000032:analysis; D005516:Food Microbiology / Q000379:methods*; D005525:Food-Processing Industry / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D011202:Poultry Products / Q000382:microbiology*; D012475:Salmonella / Q000254:growth & development / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D012478:Salmonella Food Poisoning / Q000517:prevention & control; D014422:Turkeys