Reduction of Salmonella and Campylobacter on Chicken Carcasses by Changing Scalding Temperature

Chickens were processed at three scalding temperatures, 52, 56, or 60°C, and the numbers of Salmonella and Campylobacter attached to the fully processed carcasses in each group were compared. For Salmonella , carcasses scalded at 52 or 56°C showed ~ 0.3 to 0.5 lower log numbers than carcasses at 60°C (P < 0.05). There were no significant differences between the carcasses at 52 and 56°C. For Campylobacter , carcasses scalded at 56°C showed ~ 0.7 lower log counts than the carcasses at 60°C (P < 0.05) in the first two trials; however, no difference was observed in a third trial. Although the reduction of bacteria attached to the chicken carcasses was not as great as shown in previous attachment studies using skin samples (1.0 to 1.4 log cycles), these results show that reductions in bacterial numbers on chicken carcasses can be achieved by simply changing the scalding temperature.