Microbiological quality of broiler carcasses during slaughter processing
Microbial contamination of poultry carcasses can be influenced by many factors during transport and slaughtering. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of four processing steps (plucking, evisceration, washing and chilling) on the total viable counts (TVC), counts ofEscherichia coli,Salmonellaspp. andListeriaspp. incidence on broiler carcasses. A total of 160 broiler carcasses originating from one farm were collected during one year period at a Czech slaughterhouse and examined. Both TVC andE. colicounts decreased during processing from 4.6 log cfu/cm2and 3.5 log cfu/cm2to 3.7 log cfu/cm2and 1.8 log cfu/cm2, respectively, with a major impact of washing on TVC and washing and chilling onE. colidecrease (P< 0.001). BothSalmonellaspp. (6 strains) andListeriaspp. (12 strains, none ofL. monocytogenes) were found sporadically in all processing steps followed. However, a decreasing trend was observed inSalmonellacounts andListeriaspp. incidence during the processing. Thus, this study brings new valuable information on the dynamics of microflora during modern poultry processing.