Survival of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli on Retail Broiler Meat Stored at −20, 4, or 12°C and Development of Weibull Models for Survival

Survival of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli isolated from broiler meat was investigated and modeled on retail breast meat. Meat portions were inoculated with C. jejuni or C. coli at 6.4 to 6.8 log CFU/g followed by storage at −20°C for 84 days or at 4 or 12°C for 14 days. Kinetic data within a species and temperature were fitted to the Weibull model. When ≥70% of the residuals were in an acceptable prediction zone from −1 (fail-safe) to 0.5 (fail-dangerous) log units, the model was considered to have acceptable performance. Survival of Campylobacter was highest at 4°C, lowest at 12°C, and intermediate at −20°C. Survival of C. jejuni and C. coli was similar at −20°C but was lower (P < 0.05) for C. jejuni than for C. coli at 4 and 12°C. The Weibull model provided acceptable predictions for four of six sets of dependent data with unacceptable performance for survival of C. jejuni at −20 and 12°C. A difference in survival was observed between the two strains of C. jejuni tested. Comparison of Weibull model predictions with data for C. jejuni archived in ComBase revealed mostly unacceptable performance, indicating that C. jejuni and C. coli survival on raw broiler breast meat differs from published results for other strains and growth media. Variation in Campylobacter survival among replicate storage trials was high, indicating that performance of the models can be improved by collection of additional data to better define the survival response during storage at temperatures from −20 to 12°C.