Effect of changes in processing to improve hygiene control on contamination of poultry carcasses with campylobacter

Examination of neck skin and caecal samples taken at a commercial processing plant from 15 randomly chosen poultry flocks showed that all flocks were contaminated initially with thermophilic Campylobacter spp., even in the apparent absence of caecal carriage. During processing, numbers of campylobacter on skin samples were reduced by between 10 and 1000-fold. To improve hygiene control generally, chlorinated-water sprays were used to limit microbial contamination on equipment and working surfaces. In addition, chlorine concentrations in process water were increased and any unnecessary carcass contact surfaces in the processing plant were removed. When comparing flocks before and after the changes, it was found that numbers of campylobacter on packaged carcasses were significantly lower after the changes had been made (P 0.001). In practice, however, the reduction would be likely to have little impact on consumer exposure to campylobacter infection.