BACTERIOLOGICAL QUALITY OF FRESHLY PROCESSED BROILER-CHICKENS AS AFFECTED BY CARCASS PRETREATMENT AND GAMMA-IRRADIATION

Chicken carcasses dipped in whey fermented by Streptococcus thermophilus, lactic acid solution or water and irradiated at 2.5 kGy by Co-60 were evaluated for bacteriological quality on day-1, day-3 and at 3-day intervals for an 18-day storage (4-degrees-C) period. Unirradiated carcasses treated similarly were used as control. Gram negative bacteria, Yersinia and Campylobacter counts were significantly (p<0.01) lower in irradiated samples, but no significant (p>0.05) differences were observed among the dipping solutions. Salmonellae were completely eliminated in irradiated samples. Whey fermented by S. thermophilus reduced the proportion of Salmonella contaminated carcasses from 67% to 20%. As evidenced by the bacterial counts the shelf-life was found to be 15 days for irradiated carcasses compared to about 6 days for the unirradiated samples.