Campylobacter is an important zoonotic bacterial pathogen that is commonly associated with poultry products and can cause gastrointestinal illness. The regulatory approach has mainly focused on reducing pathogen prevalence at the poultry processing operations using performance standards. A survey of broiler processing establishments was conducted to evaluate Campylobacter post-harvest interventions and control strategies for cut-up parts adopted by the U.S. broiler industry. A majority (62%) of processing establishments were monitoring for Campylobacter and 74% have an established control program for Campylobacter control for chicken parts. Establishments met the Campylobacter performance standard for whole carcasses (62%) and parts (49%) exceeding USDA-FSIS estimates. Campylobacter prevalence was not influenced by processing plant processing capacity and antimicrobial interventions to meet performance standards are used. Campylobacter quantitative microbial risk assessments (QMRA) show that concentrating efforts to lower Campylobacter population may help reduce illness risk to the public. Chicken parts and comminuted poultry products have not been part of exposure assessments even though these products constitute a higher share of the total poultry consumption in the U.S. A systematic review and meta-analysis (SR-MA) were performed to develop Campylobacter contamination estimates in poultry parts and comminuted product with and without interventions. These estimates were then used to evaluate intervention data in its ability to control Campylobacter contamination. The initial prevalence (82%) and concentration (4.81 log10 CFU/mL) were calculated from literature data . Odds ratios (OR) and Log changes (LC) were calculated to indicate changes in Campylobacter population. The scalding stage had an OR of 0.15 and an LC of -2.86 log10 CFU/mL, and the chilling stage had an OR of 0.32 and an LC of -1.48 log10 CFU/mL providing significant reductions from the initial contamination (p < 0.05). A baseline model representing Campylobacter population without interventions was constructed. Campylobacter was present in 18.4 % of whole birds at 1.38 log10 CFU/mL, 62.5% of cut-up parts at 0.79 log10 CFU/mL, and 25.2% comminuted product at 0.45 log10 CFU/mL. Post-chill immersion after chill reduced prevalence by 96% and concentrations by 94%. Campylobacter population in cut-up parts can be used to assess risk of exposure.
