Effect of high-temperature inside-outside spray on survival of campylobacter jejuni attached to prechill chicken carcasses

Department of Biological & Agricultural Engineering, Center of Excellence for Poultry Science, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville 72701, USA. yanbinli@uark.edu

Prechill chicken carcasses, inoculated with Campylobacter jejuni, were sprayed in an inside-outside birdwasher at 20, 55, or 60 C, with or without 50 ppm chlorine, in a poultry processing pilot plant. Carcasses were sprayed for 12 s at 80 pounds per square inch (psi). Next, carcasses were placed in a chiller filled with 50 ppm chlorinated ice water at 4 C for 50 min. Most probable numbers of C. jejuni were determined based on chicken carcass wash water before and after the spray treatment. The skin color of chicken carcasses was measured. The results of this study showed that the 55 and 60 C water spray treatments significantly reduced C. jejuni by more than 0.78 log cfu/carcass compared with the 20 C water spray treatment. However, all of the 50 ppm chlorine spray treatments at three different temperatures were not significantly different. The skin color of chicken carcasses did not change significantly after the spray treatments at temperatures less than 60 C. The chilling process with 50 ppm chlorinated ice water at 4 C further reduced more C. jejuni (approximately 1 log cfu/carcass) among the water spray treatments but did not result in greater reduction of C. jejuni among the chlorine spray treatments.

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