Special Issue "Food Safety Management and Poultry Production"

Guest Editor
Dr. Lawrence Goodridge
Department of Animal Sciences, Colorado State University, 350 West Pitkin Street, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA
Website: http://ansci.agsci.colostate.edu/goodridge-lawrence/
E-Mail: lgoodrid@lamar.colostate.edu

Dear Colleagues,

New and improved food safety practices during poultry processing remains an acute necessity due to ongoing outbreaks of foodborne illness associated with consumption of contaminated poultry. The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently announced that poultry causes the 4th most foodborne illnesses and the most deaths among major food commodities. As such, there remains a need for research to identify and control hazards at all stages of the poultry supply chain. Control of foodborne contamination occurs at different stages of poultry production beginning at the farm through slaughter, and also includes safe poultry handling practices by consumers. Newer methods to control foodborne contamination have emerged, including the use of bio-control strategies. Such decontamination interventions and strategies must be validated as part of a hazard analysis critical control points (HACCP)-based food safety system.

Dr. Lawrence Goodridge
Guest Editor

Submission

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• poultry
• contamination
• Salmonella
• Campylobacter
• HACCP
• decontamination interventions
• rapid detection

Type of Paper: Article
Title: Effect of Different Feed Structures and Bedding on the Horizontal Spread of Campylobacter jejuni within Broiler Flocks
Author: Birgitte Moen
Affiliation: The Norwegian Institute of Food, Fisheries and Aquaculture, Nofima, Osloveien 1, Norway
Abstract: The effect of feed structure and litter on spread of C. jejuni in broiler flocks was studied. Broiler chickens raised in 24 eight-bird group cages on either rubber mat or wood shavings were fed either a wheat-based control diet, a diet where 50% of the ground wheat was replaced by whole wheat prior to pelleting, or the control diet diluted with 12% oat hulls. Samples from the cloacal mucosa of all birds were taken daily for C. jejuni quantification and cecum samples were collected at the end of the experiment for C. jejuni quantification and microbiota analysis. Inclusion of whole wheat or oat hulls delayed the spread of C. jejuni in broiler flocks, but no significant differences were detected between types of structure included in the feed. No significant changes in the dominating microbiota in the lower GI tract were observed, which indicates that only the upper GI tract has an effect on feed structure. Delaying the spread of C. jejuni in broiler flocks, could at time of slaughter, result in fewer C. jejuni-positive broilers.

Type of Paper: Article
Title: Salmonella Prevalence and Risk Factors in Turkey Flocks in Germany
Author: Annemarie Käsbohrer
Affiliation: Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, Head of Unit Epidemiology and Zoonoses
National Reference Laboratory for Antimicrobial Resistance, Department Biological Safety-Diedersdorfer Weg 1, 12277 Berlin, Germany
Abstract: The objective of the study was to describe the Salmonella prevalence in turkey flocks before and after the implementation of the Salmonella control program in Germany and to identify factors that are potentially associated with the presence of Salmonella in flocks.
In a baseline survey that was carried out from October 2006 to September 2007 as part of an European Union (EU) wide investigation into the prevalence of Salmonella in turkeys all breeding flocks and a representative sample of the fattening flocks were tested for Salmonella. None of the 98 turkey breeding flocks were positive for Salmonella (S.) spp. In contrast, 31 (10.3 %) of 300 turkey fattening flocks were positive for Salmonella spp. In 11 fattening flocks, S. Typhimurium (8 flocks), the monophasic variant of S. Typhimurium S. 4, 5, 12 : i : - (2 flocks) or S. Enteritidis (1 flock) were detected. These Salmonella serovars, which accounted for 3.7% positive flocks, are frequently detected in human salmonellosis cases and therefore of priority for Salmonella control. Fattening flocks were most frequently (p < 0.05) identified positive during the first quarter of the study (October to December 2006). The prevalence observed in free range flocks (28.6%) was significantly (p < 0.05) higher compared with barn flocks (9.4%). Logistic regression analysis confirmed that production type and season were risk factors for the presence of Salmonella spp. in fattening turkey flocks in Germany.
Data were collected from mandatory official testing within the Salmonella control program started in 2010. In 2010, 3.3% of the fattening flocks and none of the breeding flocks were Salmonella positive. Five positive flocks (2.6%) were infected with S. Enteritidis or S. Typhimurium. In 2011, the prevalence in official sampling of fattening turkey flocks decreased further to 2.6% for Salmonella spp. and to 1.5% for S. Enteritidis or S. Typhimurium. Results indicate that the prevalence of Salmonella in turkey fattening flocks has decreased significantly within the control program.
Keywords: Salmonella; turkey; risk factor; control program

Type of Manuscript: Review
Title: Systemic Salmonella in Poultry: Identifying Research Needs to Improve Food Safety
Authors: Jennifer McEntire ¹, Scott J. Eilert ², Barbara J. Masters ³, Rafael E. Rivera ⁴
Affiliations: ¹ Food and Import Safety, Leavitt Partners Global Food Safety Solutions; ² Food Safety, Quality and Regulatory, Cargill Value Added Meats-Retail, 151 N. Main, Wichita, KS 67201, USA; ³ OFW Law Washington, District of Columbia; ⁴ Manager Food Safety & Production Programs, US Poultry & Egg Association
Abstract: Despite the application of on-farm controls and in-plant interventions, outbreaks of salmonellosis have been associated with ground poultry products. It has conventionally been assumed that contamination occurs at the tissue surface, and therefore can best be addressed through good sanitary dressing practices accompanied with surface treatments such as dips and sprays. However, if Salmonella can become systemic in poultry, this may warrant additional research determine if these Salmonella are introduced into the ground product. This paper reviews the existing research studying the ability of Salmonella to systemically infect poultry, and discusses future research needs and the implication for the ground poultry industry if Salmonella is not limited to surface contamination, as previously assumed.

Type of Paper: Article
Title: Buffering Capacity of Chicken Protects Salmonella against Hydrochloric Acid but not Organic Acid Treatment
Authors: Gary Dykes
Affiliations: School of Science, Monash University, Sunway Campus, Bandar Sunway, Selangor, Malaysia
Abstract: Acidic marinades have been suggested to improve chicken meat safety by eliminating pathogenic bacteria such as Salmonella. Chicken skin and meat are likely to have a buffering capacity which may help reduce the acidic pH of marinades. We investigated (1) the buffering capacity of chicken skin and meat and (2) the effects of organic acids and hydrochloric acid on the survival of Salmonella on chicken skin and meat. The buffering capacity of chicken meat and skin was investigated by measuring changes in the pH of phosphate buffered saline at pH 2, 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11 both before and after incubation at refrigeration temperature for 24 hours. In a separate experiment, two strains each of Salmonella Typhimurium and Salmonella Enteritidis were inoculated separately onto chicken skin and meat. The inoculated samples were treated with acetic acid, citric acid, lactic acid and hydrochloric acid (HCl) solutions ranging from 0.05M to 0.5M and incubated at refrigeration temperatures for 24 hours. The pH of the acid solutions was measured before and after incubation. Salmonella was enumerated before and after exposure to the acid solutions and compared to a control without the presence of chicken skin and meat. Chicken skin and meat showed buffering capacity and changed both acidic and alkaline solution pH towards neutrality. Chicken meat was shown to exert the best buffering effect by, for example, increasing pH 2 PBS to pH 4.8 (p<0.001). Numbers of Salmonella surviving on chicken decreased as the pH descreased. Among the four acids acetic acid resulted in the fastest (p<0.001) rate of reduction of Salmonella on chicken (slope of 8.8), followed by citric acid (slope of 5.69), lactic acid (slope of 5.26) and HCl (slope of 3.65). Acetic acid effectively eliminated Salmonella on chicken at ~pH 3.8 (p<0.001) while lactic acid and citric acid eliminated Salmonella at ~pH 2.5 and ~pH 2.9 (p>0.05), respectively. Elimination of Salmonella of HCl occurred at pH 1.2 (p<0.05). The buffering effect of chicken meat and skin protected Salmonella against extreme acidic conditions (pH 2) created by HCl, but did not protect Salmonella on chicken treated by organic acids at the same pH. This suggests that the antimicrobial mode of action of organic acid is due to other factors than its acidic pH. In addition, the ability of acetic acid to eliminate Salmonella on chicken meat at approximately pH 4 suggests it has potential for practical application in commercial marination.

Title: A Review on Microbiological Safety of Chicken Litter or Chicken Litter-Based Organic Fertilizer and Soil Amendment
Authors: Zhao Chen ¹ and Xiuping Jiang ²
Affiliations: ¹ Department of Biological Sciences, Clemson University, SC, USA; ² Department of Food, Nutrition, and Packaging Sciences, Clemson University, SC, USA
Abstract: Chicken litter or chicken litter- based organic fertilizer and soil amendment is usually recycled into the soil to improve the structure and fertility of agricultural land. As an important source of nutrients for crop production, chicken litter may also contain a variety of human pathogens that can threaten humans who consume the contaminated food or water. Some foodborne pathogens have the great potential to survive for long periods of time in chicken litter or after land application, and a small population of pathogenic cells may regrow to high levels when the conditions are favorable for growth. Thermal processing is often a good choice for inactivating pathogens in chicken litter prior to land application. However, some populations may become acclimatized to desiccation environment during stockpiling and develop heat resistance through cross-protection during subsequent high temperature treatment. Therefore, this paper reviews available information on the microbiological safety of chicken litter or chicken litter-based organic fertilizer and soil amendment, and discusses  about further research on developing novel and effective disinfection techniques as an attractive alternative to current methods.