Transfer of Campylobacter from a Positive Batch to Broiler Carcasses of a Subsequently Slaughtered Negative Batch: A Quantitative Approach.
The present study was conducted to quantify Campylobacter cross-contamination from a positive batch of broiler chicken carcasses to a negative batch at selected processing steps and to evaluate the duration of this cross-contamination. During each of nine visits conducted in three broiler slaughterhouses, Campylobacter levels were determined on broiler carcasses originating from Campylobacter-negative batches processed immediately after Campylobacter-positive batches. Data were collected after four steps during the slaughter process (scalding, plucking, evisceration, and washing) at 1, 10, and 20 min after the start of the slaughter of the batches. Campylobacter levels in ceca of birds from Campylobacter-positive batches ranged from 5.62 to 9.82 log CFU/g. When the preceding positive batch was colonized at a low level, no (enumerable) carcass contamination was found in a subsequent negative batch. However, when Campylobacter levels were high in the positive batch, Campylobacter was found on carcasses of the subsequent negative batch but at levels significantly lower than those found on carcasses from the preceding positive batch. The scalding and the evisceration process contributed the least (< 1.5 log CFU/g) and the most (up to 4 log CFU/ g), respectively, to the Campylobacter transmission from a positive batch to a negative batch. Additionally, the number of Campylobacter cells transferred from positive to negative batches decreased over the first 20 min of sampling time. However, the reduction was slower than previously estimated in risk assessment studies, suggesting that pathogen transfer during crosscontamination is a complex process.
Department of Veterinary Public Health and Food Safety, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Salisburylaan 133, 9820 Merelbeke, Belgium; Department of Food Safety and Food Quality, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, 9000 Gent, Belgium. tomasz.seliwiorstow@ugent.be.
Tomasz
T
Seliwiorstow
Department of Veterinary Public Health and Food Safety, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Salisburylaan 133, 9820 Merelbeke, Belgium; Unit of Orientation and Veterinary Support, Centrum voor Onderzoek in Diergeneeskunde en Agrochemie, Centre d'Etude et de Recherches Vétérinaires et Agrochimiques, Groeselenberg 99, 1180 Ukkel, Belgium.
Julie
J
Baré
Department of Veterinary Public Health and Food Safety, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Salisburylaan 133, 9820 Merelbeke, Belgium.
Inge
I
Van Damme
Department of Veterinary Public Health and Food Safety, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Salisburylaan 133, 9820 Merelbeke, Belgium; Communicable and Infectious Diseases, Scientific Institute of Public Health, Rue Engelandstraat 642, 1180 Brussels, Belgium.
Ignacio
I
Gisbert Algaba
Department of Food Safety and Food Quality, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, 9000 Gent, Belgium.
Mieke
M
Uyttendaele
Department of Veterinary Public Health and Food Safety, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Salisburylaan 133, 9820 Merelbeke, Belgium.
Lieven
L
De Zutter
D000003:Abattoirs; D000818:Animals; D002167:Campylobacter; D002645:Chickens; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D005506:Food Contamination; D005511:Food Handling; D005516:Food Microbiology; D008460:Meat