A systematic review and meta‐analysis of the efficacy of processing stages and interventions for controllingCampylobactercontamination during broiler chicken processing

Abstract

Systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted to quantify the effects of processing stages and interventions on the prevalence and concentration of Campylobacter on broiler carcasses. To comprehensively capture relevant evidence, six databases were searched using the keywords "Campylobacter" and "broiler chicken." The literature search yielded 10,450 unique citations, and after applying predetermined inclusion and exclusion criteria, 72 and 53 relevant citations were included in meta-analyses for processing stages and interventions, respectively. As the two primary outcomes, log reduction and prevalence changes were estimated for each stage or intervention using a random-effects metaanalysis approach whenever possible. The outcome-level quality assessment was conducted following the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) approach. The analysis revealed that scalding and chilling majorly reduces the prevalence and concentration of Campylobacter. Immersion chilling reduces the concentration regardless of chemical additives, but its effect on prevalence is not conclusive. The effects of carcass washing applications remain uncertain due to the inconsistency and imprecision of both outcomes. Defeathering and evisceration were identified as stages that can increase both prevalence and concentration. Both chemical and physical processing interventions provide limited efficacy in concentration and prevalence reduction. Major limitations of the review were inconsistency and imprecision at the outcome level and reporting issues and data gaps at the study level. The results are expected to inform quantitative microbial risk assessment model development and support evidence-based decision-making.

Interventions to reduce Salmonella and Campylobacter during chilling and post-chilling stages of poultry processing: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…However, treatment with water alone had the lowest reduction of all the immersion interventions. These findings are in agreement with a meta-analysis by Dogan et al (2021) which observed that immersion treatment without antimicrobial additives during primary chilling reduced Campylobacter , but immersion chilling with antimicrobial additives resulted in larger reductions. On the other hand, a meta-analysis by Bucher et al (2012) that evaluated the effect of primary chilling on Salmonella reported varying results for immersion chilling in water alone.…”

“…The results found that air chilling had the lowest reduction in population and prevalence for Campylobacter compared to all other full chill interventions. Similar results were seen in other meta-analyses examining primary chilling of Salmonella and Campylobacter ( Bucher et al, 2012 ; Dogan et al, 2021) .…”

“…Our meta-analyses found that immersion chilling with chlorine showed a reduction in both population and prevalence of Salmonella and Campylobacter with slightly greater reductions for Campylobacter seen during full chill and short chill compared to post-chill. Similar results were found by Bucher et al (2012) as well as Dogan et al (2021) when assessing primary immersion chilling with chlorine against Salmonella and Campylobacter , respectively. However, our study found that chlorine immersion showed lower reductions than most other antimicrobial additives while Dogan et al (2021) found that chlorine immersion had a higher reduction in Campylobacter population than other additives.…”

“…Similar results were found by Bucher et al (2012) as well as Dogan et al (2021) when assessing primary immersion chilling with chlorine against Salmonella and Campylobacter , respectively. However, our study found that chlorine immersion showed lower reductions than most other antimicrobial additives while Dogan et al (2021) found that chlorine immersion had a higher reduction in Campylobacter population than other additives. The other additive tested in the meta-analysis by Dogan et al (2021) was an herbal extract which may have lower effectiveness than the traditional chemical antimicrobials tested in our study.…”

“…However, the results for Campylobacter were more varied with chlorine showing the greatest reduction for full chill population data, PAA showing the greatest reduction for full chill prevalence and post-chill population data, and PAA showing an increase rather than a reduction for post-chill prevalence data. Similar published meta-analyses by Bucher et al (2012) , Bucher et al (2015) , and Dogan et al (2021) did not specifically assess PAA during chilling against Salmonella or Campylobacter .…”