Source: MEATINGPLACE, 4/16/14


A simple mix of sugar and vinegar reduced campylobacter and salmonella counts in refrigerated poultry products in a Korean study, demonstrating that the blend can be used as an effective antimicrobial treatment, the researchers concluded.

Precooked chicken breasts inoculated with C. jejuni and Salmonella Typhimurium were treated with a 3 percent cultured sugar-vinegar blend with and without a 0.6 percent rub seasoning containing 32 percent herbs. The meat was then vacuum-packaged and stored at 4 degrees Celsius (39.2 degrees Fahrenheit) and at 10 degrees Celsius (50 degrees Fahrenheit).

The marinated, packaged chicken breasts also were subjected to three freeze-thaw cycles.
At 39.2 degrees Fahrenheit, the populations of C. jejuni and Salmonella Typhimurium decreased, regardless of treatment during storage.

At 50 degrees Fahrenheit, the growth of Salmonella Typhimurium was completely prevented in precooked chicken breasts treated with the sugar-vinegar blend, regardless of the presence of seasoning.

The greatest survival for C. jejuni was observed in untreated chicken breasts.

The sugar-vinegar mix also improved the tenderness of frozen chicken breasts and refrigerated, ready-to-eat chicken breasts, the researchers found.

Results of the research, conducted by Na Yoon Park and colleagues at Kyung Hee University, were published in the journal Poultry Science.

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