MUTAGENICITY OF POULTRY CHILLER WATER TREATED WITH EITHER CHLORINE DIOXIDE OR CHLORINE

U.S. Department of Agriculture regulation of poultry processing requir es the eviscerated warm carcasses to be quickly chilled to ensure micr obiological safety and wholesomeness of the products. This is achieved by immersing carcasses in icy water for about 1 h. In addition, chlor ine is widely used to control the microbial population in poultry chil ler water (PCW), and until 1996 it was the only approved disinfectant. Recently, chlorine dixoide has also been approved the U.S. Food and D rug Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture as a disinfe ctant in PCW. Its potential mutagenicity was investigated using the Am es mutagenesis assay with Salmonella typhimurium strain TA 100 without S-9 mix, the protocol formerly demonstrated to be senstive to chlorin e-treated PCW. Chlorine dioxide was found to impart negligible mutagen icity to PCW when tested at 4 times the level required for disinfectio n.