Evaluation of alternative sampling methods for Salmonella critical control point determination at broiler processing.

Several sampling methods have been developed for the detection of Salmonella on broiler carcasses during commercial processing. The present study evaluated three sampling methodologies for sensitivity of Salmonella detection on processed broiler carcasses. Furthermore, the effect of crop removal or chill tank exposure on the frequency of Salmonella recovery was also examined. In two experiments, swab, skin, and carcass rinse samples were compared for sensitivity of Salmonella detection. The results indicated that culture of swabs was less effective (P < 0.05) for Salmonella detection than either skin or carcass rinse samples. No significant (P > 0.05) differences were observed in Salmonella recovery from culture of skin or carcass rinse. In two subsequent experiments, skin and carcass rinse samples were found to be equally sensitive in their ability to detect Salmonella. Additionally, the stages of processing between feather and crop removal were observed to cause significant (P < 0.05) increases in Salmonella recovery within an individual flock. Similar increases (P < 0.05) in Salmonella recovery were also observed following crop removal and immediately following immersion chilling in two separate flocks. These results suggest that culture of skin samples obtained from the thoracic inlet region may be a viable alternative to the traditional whole carcass rinse method for sensitivity of Salmonella detection. Furthermore, these experiments provided some evidence that the majority of Salmonella cross-contamination of carcasses prior to immersion chilling occurred following evisceration, with the chill tank potentially providing a major site for cross-contamination between Salmonella-negative and-positive flocks.