THE EFFECT OF AIR SCRUBBING ON MOISTURE PICKUP, AEROBIC PLATE COUNTS, ENTEROBACTERIACEAE, AND THE INCIDENCE OF SALMONELLAE ON ARTIFICIALLY INOCULATED BROILER CARCASSES

Processed broiler carcasses were subjected to diffused air at 158.6 kPa (air scrubbing) in tap water to evaluate the potential of this treatment for improving the microbiological quality of read-to-cook poultry. Carcasses were inoculated with a marker strain of Salmonella typhimurium 5 min before treatment. The carcasses were removed after 30 min and sampled for aerobic plate counts (APC), Enterobacteriaceae (ENT) counts, for the presence of the marker organism, or for moisture pickup. The S. typhimurium were recovered from 32 of 40 control carcasses (water only), but from only 9 of 40 air-scrubbed samples. When carcasses were inoculated with fewer than 150 cells of the marker organism, air scrubbing was more effective in reducing the incidence of salmonellae (2 of 20 positive) than when levels were in excess of 150 cells (7 of 20 positive). A similar pattern was manifested with the water-rinsed carcasses rinsed without air injection (below 150, 12 of 20; above 150, 20 of 20). No significant differences were found in the APC and ENT counts. Moisture pickup was adversely affected by air scrubbing; control carcasses had a moisture pickup of 5.8%, whereas, air-srubbed carcasses had a moisture pickup of 13.9%.