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Title: Overnight incubation of entire broiler carcass for increased detection of Salmonella

Author
item Berrang, Mark
item Cox Jr, Nelson
item Cosby, Douglas
item House, Sandra
item Frye, Jonathan
item Jackson, Charlene

Submitted to: International Association for Food Protection
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/23/2015
Publication Date: 7/25/2015
Citation: Berrang, M.E., Cox Jr, N.A., Cosby, D.E., House, S.L., Frye, J.G., Jackson, C.R. 2015. Overnight incubation of entire broiler carcass for increased detection of Salmonella. International Association for Food Protection. 78(Suppl A):177.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Introduction Broiler carcasses are generally sampled for presence of human pathogens such as Salmonella by whole carcass rinse and enrichment of a portion of the rinse. This may leave firmly attached cells out of the analysis potentially leading to false negative results. Purpose The objective of this study was to compare a traditional whole carcass rinse and culture of an aliquot to an overnight incubation of the entire carcass in the rinse liquid. Methods On each of 5 replicate sample days (5 flocks), 8 broiler carcasses were collected after chilling in a commercial slaughter plant. Each carcass was subjected to a whole carcass rinse in 400 mL buffered peptone water (BPW). A 30 mL aliquot was removed and placed in sterile cups. Cups and carcasses in broth were both incubated (35 C, 24h) to pre-enrich for Salmonella. All incubated pre-enrichment broths were selectively enriched in RV and TT broth (42 C, 24h) from which XLT4 and BGS plates were streaked and incubated (35 C, 24h). Suspect colonies were confirmed as Salmonella by biochemical and serological methods. Results Salmonella was found on significantly (P < 0.01) more carcasses when sampled by carcass enrichment (29+/40) compared to aliquot enrichment (4+/40). Three of five flocks were found to have 1 or 2 positive carcasses by aliquot enrichment; in those flocks every carcass was positive when fully enriched. Even in flocks where all aliquot enrichments were negative, some carcasses (1 or 4) were found to be positive. Significance A broiler carcass sampling method that includes enriching the entire carcass allows detection of Salmonella that can be missed by enriching only an aliquot of the rinsate providing a more sensitive method.