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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Athens, Georgia » U.S. National Poultry Research Center » Quality and Safety Assessment Research Unit » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #357161
Research Project: Develop Rapid Optical Detection Methods for Food Hazards

Location: Quality and Safety Assessment Research Unit

Title: Neutral pH Sodium Chlorite decreases recovery of Campylobacter in neutralizing buffered peptone water from simulated broiler carcass rinses

Author
item Gamble, Gary
item BERRANG, MARK - US Department Of Agriculture (USDA)
item COSBY, DOUGLAS - US Department Of Agriculture (USDA)
item COX, NELSON - US Department Of Agriculture (USDA)
item HINTON, ARTHUR - US Department Of Agriculture (USDA)

Submitted to: Journal of Food Safety
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/24/2019
Publication Date: 5/17/2019
Citation: Gamble, G.R., Berrang, M.E., Cosby, D.E., Cox, N.A., Hinton, A. 2019. Neutral pH Sodium Chlorite decreases recovery of Campylobacter in neutralizing buffered peptone water from simulated broiler carcass rinses. Journal of Food Safety. https://doi.org/10.1111/jfs.12656.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jfs.12656

Interpretive Summary: The goal of this study was to evaluate factors causing low recovery of Campylobacter during regulatory sampling following acidified sodium chlorite (ASC) treatment of broiler carcasses and subsequent carry-over into neutralizing Buffered Peptone Water (nBPW) rinses. Solution alkalinity was shown to positively correlate with the presence of un-reduced chlorite anion in the recovery broth, implying that low recovery of Campylobacter from rinses may be due to residual chlorite, an oxidizing agent. To demonstrate the susceptibility of Campylobacter to residual chlorite, three strains were inoculated into pH= 7.5 nBPW with or without addition of sodium chlorite and stored for 24 hours at 4oC prior to culturing. Microbial counts from the solutions indicated that residual chlorite can decrease recovery by up to 10,000x relative to controls. Acceptable recovery of Campylobacter from nBPW rinses containing residual chlorite may require development of a suitable neutralizing agent in the nBPW recovery medium.

Technical Abstract: The goal of this study was to evaluate factors causing low recovery of Campylobacter during regulatory sampling following acidified sodium chlorite (ASC) treatment of broiler carcasses and subsequent carry-over into neutralizing Buffered Peptone Water (nBPW) rinses. Solution alkalinity was shown to positively correlate with the presence of un-reduced chlorite anion in the recovery broth, implying that low recovery of Campylobacter from rinses may be due to residual chlorite, an oxidizing agent. To demonstrate the susceptibility of Campylobacter to residual chlorite, three strains were inoculated into pH= 7.5 nBPW with or without addition of sodium chlorite and stored for 24 hours at 4oC prior to culturing. Microbial counts from the solutions indicated that residual chlorite can decrease recovery by up to 4 log CFU/ml relative to controls. Acceptable recovery of Campylobacter from nBPW rinses containing residual chlorite may require development of a suitable neutralizing agent in the nBPW recovery medium.