Contamination of Salmonella and Campylobacter during the broiler slaughter and in chicken fillet meat packaged under modified atmospheres

Abstract

Salmonella and Campylobacter have been widely recognized as most important zoonotic pathogens with economic impact in animals and humans. Handling or consumption of contaminated poultry meat is considered the most common sources of both human infections. In this sense, the legislators have been working to limit Salmonella and Campylobacter presence; however, high number of salmonellosis and campylobacteriosis are continued declare. In order to lower the risk for human infections, most studies have been focused on the farm level to reduce the number of flocks colonized with these bacteria. Nevertheless, it has been reported that, after processing, carcasses are contaminated even when the flocks are Salmonella or Campylobacter negative at the farm. Therefore, it is necessary to introduce additional treatments to control or inhibit the survival and potential growth of both pathogens in chicken meat. In this context, the aim of this Thesis is to study the Salmonella and Campylobacter contamination of poultry carcasses during the slaughter process and evaluate different modified atmospheres packaging against the main strain isolated at slaughter level.