Research Publications (Food Safety)

Campylobacteriosis is considered to be the most frequently reported cause of zoonotic illness globally, with poultry being the main source of infection. Reducing the colonization level of Campylobacter spp. in broilers entering the processing unit could make an effective contribution at reducing the incidence of zoonotic transmission of this pathogen.

Poultry meat represents the primary source of Campylobacter-associated foodborne illness. Current methods set forth by USDA-FSIS for qualitative detection of Campylobacter from poultry involve selective enrichment to enhance recovery of cells. Due to the time and expense associated with these methods, there is a demand for more effective and economical methods of analysis.

Salmonella and Campylobacter are frequent colonizers of the intestinal tracts of poultry and have often been associated with human foodborne illness. The entry, transmission, and prevalence of both pathogens have been extensively studied in chickens but little information is available for turkeys.

Campylobacter is associated with live broilers and chicken meat products. There is some discussion in the literature about the possibility that Campylobacter prevalence in broilers could be affected by season or weather conditions. The objective of this study was to measure the flock prevalence of Campylobacter by sampling cecal contents from multiple flocks in one commercial slaughter plant over the course of 3 years.

Current regulatory guidelines to control poultry-borne pathogens, more specifically Campylobacter jejuni, necessitate the need for novel applications of antimicrobials during poultry processing. The objective of this study was to evaluate and compare the efficacy of peracetic acid (PAA; 100 and 200 ppm) and sodium hypochlorite (SH; 25 and 50 ppm) as antimicrobial interventions to reduce C. jejuni on fresh poultry using 2 separate application methods (spray and immersion).

Campylobacter occur in fresh retail poultry products as a result of their colonization of the gastro-intestinal tract of chickens during growth. Feed additives could be used for suppression of Campylobacter levels in the chickens prior to slaughter. To address this opportunity, feed manufacturers are targeting natural antimicrobials from plant material as new forms of consumer-accepted feed additives.

Campylobacter is one of the leading causes of foodborne illness worldwide and is associated with consumption of poultry products. One potential strategy to reduce Campylobacter colonization in poultry is the use of probiotics. In an attempt to reduce Campylobacter in poultry, we isolated 117 GRAS (generally recognized as safe) bacterial isolates from the ceca of healthy birds and evaluated their efficacy against Campylobacter, using a soft agar overlay technique.

Campylobacter is a natural member of the gut microflora in many commercial broilers and as such can become a contaminant on edible surfaces during processing. Culturing gut contents or feces can be a means to determine flock status prior to live-haul. The wide variety of non-Campylobacter background bacteria in these complex samples contaminates growth media and can make it very difficult to isolate Campylobacter.

In-house litter composting has been reintroduced to the industry and shown to reduce bacteria by as much as 2 orders of magnitude. Other industries have demonstrated that pathogens can recolonize a waste-residual when microbial competition has been reduced or inhibited following composting. Poultry growers, in the process of shifting to in-house composting for pathogen control, should be aware of this potential problem.

An observational study examining prevalence of Campylobacter and Salmonella in environmental samples and biosecurity interventions to mitigate these 2 pathogens was performed for 3 consecutive flocks on a commercial broiler farm in northeast Georgia. Monitoring was performed first on a baseline flock for which no interventions or treatments were undertaken.