Consequences of Using Two Types of Skin Samples from Chilled Chicken Broiler Carcasses To Measure the Degree of Contamination by Campylobacter spp.

Abstract

Because of concerns regarding the prevalence of Campylobacter in chicken meat, member countries in the European Union (EU) undertook a surveillance program to determine Campylobacter levels on chicken carcasses. A sample mass of 25 g principally composed of neck skin was used, although breast skin could also be used if there were insufficient neck skin to meet the required sample mass. The aim was to establish a baseline for Campylobacter contamination of carcasses against which future interventions could be assessed. However, in the United Kingdom researchers wanted to explore whether different ratios of neck to breast skin in samples could affect the results obtained. A comparison of the Campylobacter levels on neck and breast skin samples obtained from the same chilled chicken carcasses was undertaken at four chicken slaughterhouses. The neck skins were significantly more heavily contaminated (P < 0.05) with Campylobacter than was breast skin. Statistical analyses revealed no relationship that would allow a conversion between levels obtained on the two skin types. Ongoing surveillance of Campylobacter for 6 years was funded by United Kingdom poultry processors using samples consisting solely of neck skin, and the results of this surveillance (2011 to 2016) are reported here. Given the higher Campylobacter levels on a sample exclusively consisting of neck skin, this protocol could yield results with which the poultry industry would find it more difficult to achieve the contamination reduction target. The contamination reduction target for the United Kingdom (≤10% of chicken carcasses exceeding neck skin Campylobacter levels of 1,000 CFU/g) was not met by the end of 2015, the date stipulated by the United Kingdom government. HIGHLIGHTS

Prevalence, Antimicrobial Susceptibility, Virulence and Genotyping of Campylobacter jejuni with a Special Reference to the Anti-Virulence Potential of Eugenol and Beta-Resorcylic Acid on Some Multi-Drug Resistant Isolates in Egypt

“…In this study, we determined the high prevalence of C. jejuni in different samples collected from chicken and human origins in Sharkia Governorate, Egypt. The prevalence rate of C. jejuni observed in this study (32.8%) is partially similar to that obtained in a previous study carried out in United Kingdom (33.3%) [41], but it was higher than those reported in other studies carried out in Egypt (27.3%) [42], (26.9%) [43] and (20.3%) [44]. Herein, among chicken samples, C. jejuni isolates were highly distributed among cloacal swabs (54.3%), which is lower than that recorded in India (71%) [45] and Kenya (69%) [46].…”

UK‐wide risk factor study of broiler carcases highly contaminated with Campylobacter

“…A risk factor that was retained in both models was the amount of neck skin remaining on the carcase and available for testing. The neck skin has been shown to be a sensitive area to detect Campylobacter contamination and sample batches that included a greater quantity of neck skin rather than breast skin were more likely to have highly contaminated carcases detected (Hutchison et al, 2019; Pepe et al, 2009), and some retailers are now removing neck skin from carcases as a way to reduce the risk of exposure to Campylobacter when handling raw chickens (Waitrose, 2022). The use of a house‐specific bird‐weighing bucket/cage in a building was a protective factor identified by both models.…”

“…A number of monitoring programmes, at abattoir and retail level, have been carried out to measure progress against these reduction targets. The poultry industry have also put in place an ongoing monitoring programme for Campylobacter levels in carcases (Hutchison et al, 2019) and the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) independently monitored the progress of the scheme towards achievement of the target, which was subsequently continued and ran from January 2016 and March 2017. Alongside these abattoir‐based monitoring programmes, monitoring of chicken carcases at retail, which started in 2014/2015, is carried out to test the levels of Campylobacter contamination in whole chickens and packaging bought from the UK retail outlets and smaller independent stores and butchers (Food Standards Agency, 2016).…”