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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Athens, Georgia » U.S. National Poultry Research Center » Poultry Microbiological Safety and Processing Research Unit » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #321426
Title: Surface water accumulation and subsquent drip loss for processed broiler carcasses subjected to a post-chill water dip or spray

Author
item Bourassa, Dianna
item Wilson, Kimberly
item Bartenfeld Josselson, Lydia
item HARRIS, CAITLIN - University Of Georgia
item HOWARD, AMANDA - University Of Georgia
item Ingram, Kimberly
item Hinton Jr, Arthur
item Adams, Eric
item Berrang, Mark
item Feldner, Peggy
item Gamble, Gary
item Frye, Jonathan
item Jackson, Charlene
item JOHNSTON, JOHN - Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS)
item Buhr, Richard - Jeff

Submitted to: Poultry Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/6/2016
Publication Date: 1/1/2017
Citation: Bourassa, D.V., Wilson, K.M., Bartenfeld, L.N., Harris, C.E., Howard, A.K., Ingram, K.D., Hinton Jr, A., Adams, E.S., Berrang, M.E., Feldner, P.W., Gamble, G.R., Frye, J.G., Jackson, C.R., Johnston, J.J., Buhr, R.J. 2017. Surface water accumulation and subsquent drip loss for processed broiler carcasses subjected to a post-chill water dip or spray. Poultry Science. 96(1):241-245.

Interpretive Summary: To estimate the potential for residual antimicrobial solution carryover, surface water accumulation and loss was measured on post-chill carcasses that were either dipped or sprayed with water. Carcasses were either soft scalded or hard scalded, defeathered, and eviscerated. Carcasses were chilled in ice water for 40 min, allowed to drip for 5 min, and post-chill carcass weight (CW) recorded. For water dip treatment, carcasses were dipped for 0.5 min in water and hung by a wing or a leg and CW recorded at 0, 0.5, 1, 2 and 5 min post-dip. For water spray treatment, individual carcasses were hung by either the wings or legs from a shackle suspended from a scale. Carcasses were sprayed at 80 psi for 3 s with 1 L water and post-spray CW recorded. Water accumulation did not differ between hard and soft scalded carcasses. Initial water accumulation for dipped carcasses was similar for carcasses hung by the leg or wing (105 g). However, following the 5 min drip time, more water remained on the carcasses hung by the leg (31 g) than carcasses hung by the wing (10 g). When carcasses were sprayed with water, there was no difference in initial water accumulation (61 g). Following the 5 min drip time, only 1 g or less of water remained on the sprayed carcasses. Carcasses that were dipped and hung by a leg for 5 min retained significantly more water than carcasses that were dipped and hung by a wing or sprayed carcasses hung either way. Post-chill water dipping resulted in significantly higher initial carcass water accumulation than spraying. Carcass orientation during dripping only affected the amount of retained water for dipped carcasses. Dipped carcasses hung by a leg had the highest potential for residual carcass antimicrobial solution carryover (101 to 31 g after 5 min) and sprayed carcasses hung by either orientation had the lowest potential for residual antimicrobials (60 to 0 g after 5 min).

Technical Abstract: To estimate the potential for residual antimicrobial solution carryover, surface water accumulation and loss was measured on post-chill carcasses that were either dipped or sprayed with water. For all experiments, broilers were slaughtered, soft scalded or hard scalded, defeathered, and eviscerated. Carcasses were immersion chilled for 40 min, allowed to drip for 5 min, and post-chill carcass weight (CW) recorded. For water dip treatment, carcasses were dipped for 0.5 min in water and hung by a wing or a leg and CW recorded at 0, 0.5, 1, 2 and 5 min post-dip. For water spray treatment, individual carcasses were hung by either the wings or legs from a shackle suspended from a scale. Water was sprayed at 80 psi (3 s, 1 L water) and post-spray CW recorded. Initial water accumulation (0 min) for dipped carcasses was similar for carcasses hung by the leg (101.0 g) or wing (108.8 g). However, following the 5 min drip time, 31 g of water remained on the carcasses hung by the leg and only 10 g on carcasses hung by the wing. When carcasses were sprayed with water, initial water accumulation was 62 g for carcasses hung by the legs and 60 g for carcasses hung by the wings. Following the 5 min drip time, only 1 g or no water remained on the sprayed carcasses. Carcasses that were dipped and hung by a leg for 5 min retained significantly more water (31 g) than carcasses that were dipped and hung by a wing (10 g) or sprayed carcasses hung either way (0.3 g). Post-chill water dip resulted in significantly higher initial carcass water accumulation than spraying (210 g vs. 61 g). Carcass orientation during dripping only affected the amount of retained water for dipped carcasses. Dipped carcasses hung by a leg had the highest potential for residual carcass antimicrobial solution carryover and sprayed carcasses hung by either orientation had the lowest potential for residual antimicrobial solution carryover.