Pathogen Reduction and Processing Parameters in Poultry Processing Systems

1. Develop, evaluate, and validate alternatives to current antimicrobials and sanitizers for processing poultry carcasses that meet national and international food safety standards. Specifically, alternatives to chlorine and chlorine dioxide, such as GRAS surfactants, ozone, acidified sodium chloride, and peroxyacids should be examined. 2. Characterize and evaluate poultry processing conditions associated with processed broiler carcasses that are heavily contaminated by Salmonella. This objective will include determining microbial recovery/extraction rates for poultry rinse sampling and examining survival characteristics for Salmonella serotypes that survive processing operations. Sampling should include whole carcasses that are high shedders, and mechanically-separated poultry parts. 3. Conduct studies on extrinsic factors that influence the survival and attachment of pathogenic, spoilage, and indicator microorganisms recovered from commercial poultry processing operations. These include water activity, pH, ozone, metal chelators, and organic acids. 4. Collaborate with the QSARU at Athens to develop emerging technologies for process control and correlate molecular and cultural analysis of microbial communities in poultry with process control and pathogen contamination.