Risk of Salmonellosis from chicken parts prepared from whole chickens sold in flow pack wrappers and subjected to temperature abuse

Authors: Oscar, Thomas

Submitted to: Journal of Food Protection
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/5/2017
Publication Date: 8/11/2017
Citation: Oscar, T.P. 2017. Risk of Salmonellosis from chicken parts prepared from whole chickens sold in folw pack wrappers and subjected to temperature abuse. Journal of Food Protection. 80:104-112.

Interpretive Summary: Salmonella is a major cause of foodborne illness. The risk of salmonellosis from chicken parts prepared from whole chickens sold in flow pack wrappers and subjected to proper storage (6 h at 39 degrees F) or improper storage (72 h at 59 degrees F) before preparation was investigated. Improper storage increased the average number of Salmonella on raw chicken parts from 1 to 3,200 and on cooked chicken parts from 1 to 1,200. These results demonstrated that the flow pack wrapper provided a favorable environment for growth and spread of Salmonella within the package and that even when only a small percentage of packages were subjected to improper storage before preparation, the risk of foodborne illness increased significantly. Therefore, it may be important for the chicken industry to include some sort of time and temperature indicator in flow pack wrappers with instructions to discard the product before opening when the indicator signals expiration.

Technical Abstract: The flow pack wrapper is a popular packaging choice for retail sale of whole chickens. However, it may provide a favorable environment for growth and spread of Salmonella within the package leading to a high risk of a salmonellosis outbreak. To investigate this possibility, a process risk model that predicted risk of salmonellosis from chicken parts prepared from whole chickens sold in flow pack wrappers and subjected to proper storage (6 h at 4 degrees C) or improper storage (72 h at 15 degrees C) before preparation was developed. The model had four unit operations (pathogen events): 1) preparation (contamination); 2) cooking (death); 3) serving (cross-contamination); and 4) consumption (dose-response). Data for prevalence, number, and serotype of Salmonella on chicken parts were obtained by whole sample enrichment, real-time polymerase chain reaction. Improper storage increased (P < 0.05) prevalence of Salmonella on raw chicken parts from 10.6% (17/160) to 41.2% (66/160) and incidence of cross-contamination of cooked chicken parts from 10% (4/40) to 52.2% (24/46). Likewise, improper storage increased (P < 0.05) mean ± SD number of Salmonella from 0.017 ± 0.030 to 3.51 ± 1.34 log10 on raw chicken parts and from 0.048 ± 0.089 to 3.08 ± 1.50 log10 on cooked chicken parts. The predominant serotypes isolated (n = 111) were Typhimurium (34.2%), Typhimurium var 5- (20.7%), Kentucky (12.6%), Enteritidis (11.7%), and Heidelberg (8.1%). When chicken was properly stored before preparation, the model predicted that risk of salmonellosis was low and sporadic with only 6 cases per 107 chicken parts simulated. However, when 0.1 to 1% of chickens were improperly stored before preparation, the model predicted that the risk and size of a salmonellosis outbreak increased (P < 0.05) linearly from a median of 7 (range: 1 to 15) to 72 (range: 52 to 93) cases per 105 chicken parts. These results demonstrated that the flow pack wrapper provided a favorable environment for growth and spread of Salmonella within the package and that even when only a small percentage of packages were subjected to improper storage before preparation, the risk and size of an outbreak of salmonellosis increased significantly.