Microbiological Quality of Broiler Chicken Carcasses Processed in Serdang Wet Markets
Foodborne diseases associated with the consumption of poultry meat and its processed products are of public health significance worldwide. In Malaysia, modern large scale processing plants exist together with several small scale poultry slaughter units in wet markets with minimum technological in...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English English |
| Published: |
2004
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/107/1/548985_FPV_2004_22.pdf |
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| Summary: | Foodborne diseases associated with the consumption of poultry meat and its
processed products are of public health significance worldwide. In Malaysia,
modern large scale processing plants exist together with several small scale
poultry slaughter units in wet markets with minimum technological interventions.
Previous studies revealed a high prevalence of indicator organisms and
pathogens in chicken carcasses freshly slaughtered and those in the retail
markets. Thus, this study was undertaken to determine the microbiological
quality of poultry carcasses processed in wet markets and evaluate the reduction
of microbial contamination using chlorinated water and iced water.
Three wet market poultry slaughter stalls (Stall A, B and C) at Taman Sri
Serdang about one kilometer from University Putra Malaysia (UPM) were
studied. A total of 1051 swab samples (cloacal swabs taken from cloaca and
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carcass swabs taken from breast and thigh skin surfaces of the broiler chicken)
were collected from five different sampling sites, i.e:(a) prior to slaughter (b) prior
to scalding (c) post-defeathering (d) post-evisceration and (e) post-rinsing in
three different visits in each stall. The Standard Plate count (SPC), Coliform Plate
count (CPC) and Escherichia coli count (E. coli count) and the prevalence of
Salmonella, Campylobacter and vancomycin resistant enterococcus (VRE) were
determined by standard bacteriological methods.
The overall SPC, CPC and E. coli counts were found to be high at all the stages
in all three stalls. The counts decreased at post-defeathering, but increased
again at post-evisceration and decreased at post-rinsing. The CPC and E. coli
counts were significantly higher (P≤0.05) in stall C compared to stall A and B.
The highest count in stall C could be due to the differences in processing practice
such as bleeding of carcasses in a tank filled with water, use of contaminated
water from evisceration tank to clean the feathers attached in defeathering
machine and evisceration of carcasses in a tank filled with contaminated water.
At post-rinsing, the SPC, CPC and E. coli counts were up to 18 (log1.25), 2,800
(log3.46) and 27,000 (log 4.43) times higher respectively than that of Malaysian
microbiological guidelines and the microbiological guidelines recommended for
meat and poultry by international agencies.
Similar trends were observed on the prevalence of pathogens studied. A high
prevalence of Salmonella (57%), VRE (40%) and Campylobacter (7%) in the
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post-rinsing carcasses compared to other processing sites revealed that faecal
contamination and cross-contamination of the pathogens had occurred during
processing.
The use of chlorinated water and iced water was found to have significantly
reduced (P≤0.05) the microbiological count in the carcasses. The SPC, CPC
and E. coli counts were reduced up to 224 (log 2.35), 37(log1.57) and 26
(log1.41) times in chlorinated water and 32 (log1.51), 14 (log1.15) and 8 (log
0.90) times in iced water, respectively.
The high prevalence of pathogens and indicator organisms in the carcasses
revealed that chickens in wet markets were processed in poor hygienic
environment. A more serious attention should be given by the concerned
authorities and agencies to upgrade processing procedures ensuring supply of
wholesome poultry meat for consumer’s protection. The use of chlorinated and
iced water to decontaminate the poultry carcasses should be enforced in all wet
market poultry processing stalls in the country. |
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