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Abstract
Challenges in controlling Salmonella and Campylobacter in poultry production underscore the need for robust, accurate, and time-efficient quantification systems to safeguard public health and increase consumer confidence in poultry and poultry products. The safety of these products heavily relies on rapid and reliable quantification methods. Currently, there are several quantification methods available and employed by the industry. However, there is a lack of comprehensive studies and evaluations that compare the performance and applications of these methods, which is a critical decision-making factor while choosing the most suitable method for quantification. This study was conducted to compare the performance of different enumeration methods, primarily culture-based and conventional methods, as well as rapid quantification methods for Salmonella and Campylobacter in poultry and poultry products. Laboratory inoculated samples for ground turkey, ground chicken, and chicken wing rinses subjected to different Campylobacter and Salmonella inoculum levels for quantitative analysis. Salmonella concentrations were compared using conventional plating, miniaturized most probable number (mMPN), and two different PCR-based quantification assays for all three matrices. For Campylobacter, conventional plating and automated MPN were used for ground meat, while PCR-based quantification assay was employed for chicken wings in addition to conventional plating and automated MPN. Data were analyzed in JMP using one-way and two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) where appropriate. Differences between group means were further evaluated using Tukey’s post hoc test for pairwise comparisons. For Salmonella, mMPN resulted in higher levels (p ≤ 0.05) of Salmonella across all matrices at a high level of inoculation, closely followed by PCR assay 1 and plating, while PCR Assay 2 had the least recovery (p ≤ 0.05). At lower levels, mMPN, PCR Assay 1 & 2 performed similarly while plating had significantly lower bacterial populations (p ≤ 0.05). For Campylobacter, the plating method was significantly higher than automated MPN at a high inoculation level, but there was no statistical difference (p ≥ 0.05) at a lower level of inoculation. In the case of chicken wing rinses, both plating and automated MPN (p ≤ 0.05) results as compared to PCR-based assay, whereas, at the low levels, PCR-based quantification assay was significantly higher than both (p <.0001). The current study underscores that enumeration methods should be determined by the contamination level and operational needs. Traditional methods are dependable for quantifying bacteria at higher contamination levels, whereas PCR-based assays are more precise, robust, and efficient at lower detection levels.