| Summary: | Campylobacter is the most frequent cause of bacterial gastroenteritis in Ireland and the EU. In Ireland, over 98% of broilers are contaminated with Campylobacter. The objectives of this study were to investigate (I) the efficiency of slaughtering plant level cloacal treatments as a Campylobacter control technology; (2) the impact of dipping/spraying treatments in reducing Campylobacter on fresh and stored poultry carcasses, and to assess related sensory effects; (3) the impact of available chemicals, and application methods on the natural microflora of poultry carcasses; (4) the impact of 7 modified atmospheric packaging (MAP) gas mixtures on Campylobacter, the natural microflora of fresh and stored chicken fillets, and related sensory effects; and (5) the impact of "cook in the pack" and "freezing" technologies in reducing cross contamination in the domestic kitchen. The most effective cloacal treatment was 5% lactic acid (v/v), reducing Campylobacter numbers by 0.66 log CFU cm-2 • The two most effective chemical dipping and spraying methods were 14% (w/v) tri-sodium phosphate and 5% (w/v) citric acid, which reduced Campylobacter by 2.49 and 1.44 log CFU cm-2 respectively. The study established that a MAP mixture of 40:30:30% CO2:N2:02, resulted in a 1.17 loglo CPU per gram Campylobacter reduction and significant (x3) extension of product shelf-life. The study established that cook-in-the-bag technology can significantly reduce cross contamination, while freezing can significantly reduce Campylobacter numbers. In conclusion, the technologies developed and validated in this project offer a suite of control measures to reduce Campylobacter levels within the human population.
|
|---|
