Influence of process parameter on Campylobacter spp. counts on poultry meat in a slaughterhouse environment

Campylobacter spp. are the most important food-borne pathogens in broilers. Exposure of the consumer can be influenced by the reduction of contaminated broiler meat at various steps along the production line. This study was performed at a poultry slaughterhouse in Germany. Steps within the slaughter process were defined by the slaughterhouse quality control for potential Campylobacter reduction. Their impact was tested for two process variations. The first process variation was the increase of the temperature of the scalding water from 53.0 to 53.9 °C. The second step was the application of an additional outside sprayer which was placed after plucking. The increase of the scalding water temperature was the most effective measure (>2 log reduction), but resulted in defects to the broiler skin. This would limit marketing of fresh broiler meat with skin. The additional water spray after plucking had no additional effect. In fact, numbers of Campylobacter were lower before introduction of the sprayer. In conclusion, modifications of the processing technology have to be evaluated carefully, but can have additional effects for Campylobacter reduction.