Effects of avgard™ treatment on the microbiological flora of poultry carcases

Abstract

1. The efficiency of the AvGard (or Assur-Rince in the USA) trisodium phosphate poultry carcase decontamination process was evaluated during both manual and industrial trials against total aerobic mesophilic count (TAMC), thermotolerant coliforms, Pseudomonas, Enterobacteriaceae, Campylobacter, Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella. 2. The TSP treatment proved to have significant effects on the bacterial decontamination of poultry neck skin, lowering the contamination by a factor of about 10 for TAMC and of 100 for Coliform and Pseudomonas. 3. Numeration of Salmonella with an innovative miniaturised most probable number method has proved that the effect upon these micro-organisms was also close to 2 log10 reduction. 4. The effect of TSP treatment on the ecological balance of psychrotrophic bacterial flora was also investigated to study the origin of the shelf-life flora of treated carcases (Pseudomonas being reduced to the limit of detection) and to ascertain whether L. monocytogenes might gain a competitive advantage. In fact AvGard reduced the number of L. monocytogenes on poultry carcases. 5. As a consequence of the virtual elimination of the Pseudomonas usually present, Brochothrix thermosphacta became the main species responsible for putrefaction. 6. Because the growth rate of Brochothrix thermosphacta was greater than that of L. monocytogenes at refrigeration temperature, it was considered that putrefaction would occur before the emergence of large numbers of L. monocytogenes.

Antimicrobial activity of decontamination treatments for poultry carcasses: A literature survey

“…Moreover, del Río et al (2007) reported reductions of various bacterial species by about 0.5 (B. thermosphacta, enterococci) or 1.0-1.5 orders of magnitude (lactic acid bacteria, Micrococcaceae, psychrotrophs, Pseudomonas). The great range of results obtained by Salvat et al (1997) might be explained by the treatment of carcasses at different points during slaughter, whereas those reported by Coppen, Fenner, and Salvat (1998) might be associated with the investigation of different plants. Direct comparisons of immersion and spraying with TSP were not performed in the evaluated studies, but immersion chilling tended to yield high reductions and those obtained for coliforms and E. coli (P4.0 log CFU ml À1 ) were especially striking (Fabrizio et al, 2002).…”

Antimicrobial efficacy of AvGard carcase wash under industrial processing conditions

“…In a previous paper (Salvat et al, 1997) Salmonella incidence in model demonstration trials was reported, together with results from the rst industrial broiler immersion installation in Europe (trial site 4). The former showed that the process was effective in an industrial context (controls: 71·4% of Salmonella positive carcases; treated: 7·3% of Salmonella positive carcases).…”

The use of composting for the treatment of animal by-products: Experiments at lab scale

“…Bactericeae have also been reported [21]. Nevertheless, the suitability of using them as parameter to determine the efficiency of hygienisation is questionable since although they are usually associated with intestinal infections, they can be found in almost all natural habitats.…”