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Recovery of Bacteria from Broiler Carcasses after Spray Washing with Acidified Electrolyzed Water or Sodium Hypochlorite Solutions

J. Northcutt^*,1, D. Smith, K. D. Ingram^*, A. Hinton, Jr.^* and M. Musgrove

^* USDA, Agricultural Research Service, Poultry Processing and Swine Physiology Research Unit, Athens GA 30604; USDA, Agricultural Research Service, Quality Assesment Research Unit, Athens, GA 30604; USDA, Agricultural Research Service, Egg Quality and Safety Research Unit, Athens, GA 30604

¹ Corresponding author: jnorthcutt{at}saa.ars.usda.gov

A study was conducted to investigate the effects of spray washing broiler carcasses with acidified electrolyzed oxidizing water (EO) or sodium hypochlorite (HOCl) solutions for 5, 10, or 15 s. Commercial broiler carcasses were contaminated with 0.1 g of broiler cecal contents inoculated with 10⁵ cells of Campylobacter and 10⁵ cells of nalidixic acid-resistant Salmonella. Numbers of bacteria recovered from unwashed control carcasses were 6.7, 5.9, 6.3, and 3.9 log₁₀ cfu/mL for total aerobic bacteria, Escherichia coli, Campylobacter, and Salmonella, respectively. Washing in either EO (50 mg/L of sodium hypochlorite, pH 2.4, oxidation reduction potential of 1,180 mV) or HOCl (50 mg/L of sodium hypochlorite, pH 8.0) significantly reduced the levels of bacteria recovered from carcasses (P < 0.05). Carcasses washed with EO had slightly lower levels of total aerobic bacteria (0.3 log₁₀ cfu/mL) and E. coli (0.2 log₁₀ cfu/mL) than HOCl-treated carcasses; however, populations of Campylobacter and Salmonella were comparable after washing in either solution. Increasing the carcass washing time from 5 to 10 s lowered the levels of total aerobic bacteria (6.1 vs. 5.8 log₁₀ cfu/mL), E. coli (4.6 vs. 4.1 log₁₀ cfu/mL), Campylobacter (5.2 vs. 4.2 log₁₀ cfu/mL), and Salmonella (2.0 vs. 1.2 log₁₀ cfu/mL), but no further microbiological reductions occurred when washing time was extended from 10 to 15 s. Data from the present study show that washing poultry carcasses with EO is slightly better (total aerobic bacteria and E. coli) or equivalent to (Campylobacter and Salmonella) washing with HOCl. Washing broiler carcasses for a period equivalent to 2 inside-outside bird washers (10 s) provided greater reductions in carcass bacterial populations than periods simulating 1 (5 s) or 3 inside-outside bird washers (15 s).

Key Words: broiler processing • carcass washing • acidified electrolyzed water • chlorine

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