Recovery of Salmonella from water, equipment, and carcasses in turkey processing plants

Foodborne salmonellae outbreaks in humans have been associated with consump tion of foods of animal origin, including turkey meat. A field study was co nducted to determine the incidence and serotypes of Salmonella spp. in turk eys before and after processing, on equipment at different stages during th e slaughter operation, and in water used to chill turkey carcasses. Rinse w ater from turkey carcasses, swabs from equipment, and samples of chill wate r were cultured by enrichment procedures designed to isolate and identify S almonella. A total of 868 samples were cultured, and bacteriological result s from two different turkey slaughter facilities were compared. Eleven Salm onella serotypes were isolated. Processing Plant 1 had 21.2% positive sampl es, whereas only 0.4% of samples from Plant 2 yielded Salmonella. There was little correlation between isolation of salmonella from cloacal swabs of t urkeys entering the plant and isolation of Salmonella spp. from postchill c arcasses. Because sanitation and disinfection procedures at both slaughter facilities were equivalent, it was concluded that the difference in Salmone lla isolations between the two facilities was due to the Salmonella status of turkeys delivered to the plants. Reduction of Salmonella on turkey carca sses may require removal of litter and feces from feathers before turkeys e nter a processing plant.