The Effect of Sanitizers on Microbial Levels of Chicken Meat Collected from Commercial Processing Plants

Kapil Chousalkar, Sarah Sims, Andrea McWhorter, Samiullah Khan and Margaret Sexton
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Kapil Chousalkar: School of Animal and Veterinary Science, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide 5371, Australia
Sarah Sims: School of Animal and Veterinary Science, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide 5371, Australia
Andrea McWhorter: School of Animal and Veterinary Science, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide 5371, Australia
Samiullah Khan: School of Animal and Veterinary Science, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide 5371, Australia
Margaret Sexton: Primary Industries and Regions, Adelaide 5065, Australia

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 23, 1-11

Abstract: Chicken meat can potentially become contaminated with bacteria at the processing plant. In Australia, there is currently a lack of knowledge on the parameters and indications of use of non-chlorine based treatments in the chicken meat processing plants. Chlorine is widely used as a sanitizer in Australian chicken meat processing plants but due to occupational health and safety concerns and consumer perception, there is a need to identify alternative sanitizers. This study aimed to assess the efficacy of four different sanitizers in reducing the microbial load from naturally contaminated chicken meat carcasses collected from the processing plants in South Australia. There was a significant variation in a load of Campylobacter and total viable count (TVC) between samples collected from two different processing plants and within carcass batches collected from the same plant that was tested during the study. All sanitizers generally reduced the load of Campylobacter on chicken meat carcasses. Treatment with acidified sodium chlorite significantly reduced the level of Salmonella enterica serovars at all temperatures tested during this study. These findings are helpful to the industry for selection of the appropriate sanitizers. Findings are also useful for the regulatory authorities in Australia for providing approval for the use of sanitizers.

Keywords: chicken meat; sanitizers; Campylobacter; Salmonella (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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