Sampling of broiler carcasses for Salmonella with low volume water rinse

The uneven distribution and low numbers of salmonella usually present on broiler carcasses make whole carcass rinsing the most sensitive sampling procedure for detecting this organism on the raw product. However, 270 ml of water or medium has been the smallest volume used in past published research. We found that 100 ml was adequate to recover Salmonella typhimurium, S. california, or S. montevideo from freshly processed broiler carcasses that had been inoculated with the organism at the rate of 50 cells/carcass. When carcasses were inoculated with 20 cells or S. heidelberg, then stored at -23 C for 3 or 6 months, sampling with 100 ml was adequate to detect the organism on all carcasses. The advantages of using the smallest volume of rinsing medium that will consistently lead to detection of salmonella present are: 1) less enrichment medium is required, 2) less incubator space is required, and 3) the concentration of cells in the selective enrichment medium at the end of incubation is greater; hence, the greater are the chances of salmonella detection when a drop is subsequently transferred to the selective plating medium.