Source: Michael Fielding, MEATINGPLACE, 1/30/12

Survey results seem to indicate that about 80 percent of poultry growers don’t ever sanitize their crates, according to an Auburn University survey of 10,317 farms. What’s more, just 18.3 percent sanitize their trucks and trailers – two areas that contribute to the spread of Salmonella and Campylobacter.

Conducted throughout 2011 by researchers at Auburn University, the survey queried 17 poultry companies of varying sizes and focused on house, bird, litter and environmental management practices.

The survey also revealed that only one of the 17 companies that responded offers formal intervention training. “We need more food safety education,” Shelly McKee, associate professor in the Department of Poultry Science at Auburn, told attendees of the International Poultry Expo last week in Atlanta.

Although most farms do test for the presence of Salmonella, it’s at the expense of Campylobacter – the leading cause of bacterial diarrheal illness in the United States, sickening 845,024 Americans each year.
“Campy is something altogether different,” McKee said. “The philosophy in the plant has changed to: If you can control Campylobacter, you can control Salmonella.”

Once a flock becomes infected with Campylobacter, the entire flock is usually infected within a short period of time. Nonetheless, growers continue to focus largely on Salmonella, with 93 percent saying that vaccination at the breeder level is the best way to control the pathogen.

For either pathogen, though, most growers (94 percent) said that they use a combination of techniques – including using acidifiers such as sodium bisulfate and aluminum sulfate in addition to moisture management and composting. “Pathogens need water just like we do,” McKee added. “Moisture control is extremely important.”

She recommends that the target pH of a farm’s water should be 3-4, since the pH level affects the efficacy of acidifiers. “You’ve got to know your water quality. It can help you, or it can hinder you,” said McKee, who explained that more than half (58 percent) of respondents said they have medium-to-hard water, which won’t clean as effectively as softer water.

“Knowing your water quality will really help you with some of the applications of your acids on the farm,” she added. “Hard water can increase biofilm buildup in water lines, and you need to use an acid to get rid of mineral deposits plus hydrogen peroxide to penetrate the biofilms within the water lines.”

For more stories, go to www.meatingplace.com.