Subcutaneous bacteria in turkey carcasses.

Two methods were employed to quantitate the subcutaneous bacteria in fresh, refrigerated, and frozen turkey carcasses. Relatively few bacteria were detected in the skin-flesh interface and in the flesh as compared with the number of bacteria on the skin surface and in the skin layer. No subcutaneous bacteria were detected in 49% of the skin-flesh interface and flesh samples. The number of bacteria detected in skin samples from carcasses chemically disinfected to kill skin surface bacteria was smaller than that in nondisinfected skin samples. These results indicate that the skin blending method used to quantify microorganisms on poultry carcass skin measures the skin layer flora and that the number of subcutaneous membrane or flesh bacteria measured is not normally large enough to have a significant influence on the results.