Source:  Lisa M. Keefe, MEATINGPLACE.COM, 10/1/10

When salmonella is present on chicken carcasses, it exhibits a diverse pattern of contamination, and often more than one type of salmonella is present, according to new research published in the September 2010 issue of the Journal of Food Protection. 

In the article, “Qualitative Map of Salmonella Contamination on Young Chicken Carcasses,” researchers from USDA and the University of Maryland mapped the distribution of salmonella on young chicken carcasses in the Cornish game hen class. The chickens were bought at retail over a three-year period. The carcasses were sectioned into 12 parts and salmonella was isolated and cultured, and characterized for serotype and antibiotic resistance.

Salmonella was detected in 21.5 percent (181 of 840) of the parts, and in 57.1 percent (40 of 70) of the carcasses. The researchers determined that the rib back and the sacral back were the most contaminated parts of the carcass. Of the contaminated whole carcasses, researchers determined that there were 37 different patterns of contamination, and 33 of the 40 carcasses had more than one type of salmonella present.

The researchers concluded that “whole-carcass incubation succeeded by characterization of multiple isolates per carcass is needed to properly assess and manage this risk to public health.”

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