Files
Abstract
While chicken meat production and availability per capita continues to increase, its microbiological safety remains a concern. With increasing stringency of raw poultry regulations regarding pathogens, poultry meat processors will benefit from more effective antimicrobial interventions. Bacterial persistence in poultry processing environments is an ongoing challenge which can introduce spoilage and pathogenic bacteria into meat. This study aimed to assess the antimicrobial efficacy of two interventions for poultry meat and environmental sanitation applications. Antimicrobial agents consisting of pyruvic acid (PA) and succinic acid (SA), each in combination with oregano essential oil (EO) were developed and their anti-Salmonella efficacy was evaluated in cell suspensions, in solid chicken meat pieces, in breast meat destined for ground chicken production, and against bacterial cells attached to steel. The influence of immersion treatments with these antimicrobials on raw quality of ground chicken was evaluated during simulated retail display. Carbon dioxide snow was evaluated for its efficacy to remove cells of Salmonella Typhimurium and Listeria monocytogenes attached to steel coupons for 24 h. PA+EO and SA+EO combinations were shown to inactivate Salmonella Typhimurium cells suspended in broth within 10 s and attached to stainless steel coupons with 5 min exposure, while they effectively reduced Salmonella in chicken meat pieces (P<0.05) and in ground chicken meat (P<0.05). Among the antimicrobial combinations evaluated, 3% SA + 0.5% EO treatment was found to offer maximum reduction in Salmonella and spoilage bacteria, improve raw color, pH, and water holding capacity, and possibly extend shelf life. Carbon dioxide snow effectively reduced counts of both Listeria and Salmonella attached to stainless steel. Approximately 2 3 log cfu/coupon reduction was obtained for treatment durations of 7 s and longer. These results demonstrated that carbon dioxide snow cleaning was effective in removing attached cells of pathogenic bacteria, and this technology merits further research for its improvement. The antimicrobial combination of SA+EO can be employed by poultry meat processors seeking to improve safety and quality of raw chicken products. With further technological improvement, carbon dioxide snow cleaning could be employed for routine environmental sanitation protocols.