Escherichia
coli and Enterobacteriaceae counts on poultry carcasses along the slaughter
processing line, factors influencing the counts and relationship between visual
faecal contamination of carcasses and counts: a review
ABSTRACT
A
literature review was conducted covering the period 2000-2012 to gather
information concerning the presence and counts of E. coli and
Enterobacteriaceae on carcasses during different stages of the slaughter
processing line (review question 1); risk factors that could explain the
variability of the counts of the indicator organisms (review question 2) and
the relationship between the counts of indicator organisms and visual faecal contamination
on carcasses (review question 3). In total, 72 papers, providing pertinent data
for the scopes of the search, were collected on poultry. A certain level of
variability was evidenced among different studies and some variables like the
indicator organism considered, the sampling and analytical methods used, the
use of chlorine,the setting where the studies were carried out render the
available data barely comparable. In relation to review question 1, the steps
of the processing line where a decrease of E. coli was more evident were scalding,
washingand chilling; furthermore as regards Enterobacteriaceae counts a
decrease was observed at the scalding and washing steps. Considering review
question 2, risk factors related to batch and slaughtering process were evaluated.
In general when a risk factor was investigated by several studies results were
hardly in agreement.
Taking into
account the slaughter process it is evident that plant features have an influence
on indicator bacteria loads but considering each investigated risk factor no
reliable conclusions can be drawn. In relation to review question 3, despite
the retrieved studies were quite limited, the data obtained suggested that the
presence of visible faecal contamination has no predictive value for estimating
the microbial quality of the carcasses.
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