Efficacy of Selected Chemicals on the Attachment and Survival of Campylobacter jejuni on Chicken Breast Skin

Campylobacter is considered to be the leading cause of acute bacterial gastroenteritis in humans in the United States with Campylobacter jejuni being responsible for 80-90% of those infections. Many cases of Campylobacter gastroenteritis have been linked to the consumption of raw or undercooked chicken. The population of bacteria on the breast skin has been reported to be greater than on other edible portions of the chicken carcass making this an important site to control the organism and to study bacterial attachment properties. This research examined the efficacy of trisodium phosphate (TSP)(10%), cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC)(0.1% & 0.5%), acidified sodium chlorite (ASC)(0.1%), Tween 80 (polysorbate 80) (1%) and water (50°C) for reducing the number of viable Campylobacter jejuni on inoculated chicken breast skin. All chemicals were evaluated using contact times of 30 sec., 3 min. or 10 min. Statistically significant (p £ 0.05) differences in the reduction of C. jejuni populations were observed across chemical treatments and contact time. When bacteria were applied before treatment, a reduction of >1.0 log10 CFU/skin was achieved with 0.5% CPC (2.89), 10% TSP (1.63), 0.1% ASC (1.52), and 0.1% CPC (1.42). When bacteria were applied after treatment, a reduction of >1.0 log10 CFU/skin was achieved with 0.5% CPC (4.67) and 10% TSP (1.28). The main effects of contact time were statistically significant (p=0.02) only when bacteria were applied after treatment.