Contamination of broiler chicken carcasses by thermotolerant Campylobacter sp. at selected stages of slaughter

The conducted study was aimed at determining the level of contamination of broiler chicken carcasses by Campylobacter sp. at selected stages of post-slaughter processing: after defeathering, evisceration, washing, and chilling. Swabs were collected from a 20 cm² skin surface from the neck and cloacal areas and from the wall of the body cavity. The swabs were fixed in flat-bottom flasks with 20 ml of sterile diluent. The resultant suspension was inoculated into two parallel Petri dishes with selective culture media: Karmali agar and CCDA agar. The analyses demonstrated that during the processing, Campylobacter sp. was disseminated on the surface of broiler chicken carcasses. The highest contamination of the carcasses, reaching on average log 1.71 cfu/cm² was observed after their evisceration, especially on skin in the neck area - log 1.96 cfu/cm². In the washed carcasses, the cell count of Campylobacter decreased to a value of log 0.45 cfu/cm². A similar degree of contamination, i.e. log 0.38 cfu/cm², was recorded after chilling.