Preston and Park-Sanders protocols adapted for semi-quantitative isolation of thermotolerant Campylobacter from chicken rinse

Abstract Human campylobacteriosis has become the major cause of foodborne gastrointestinal diseases in several European countries. In order to implement effective control measures in the primary production, and as a tool in risk assessment studies, it is necessary to have sensitive and quantitative detection methods. Thus, semi-quantitative detection of thermophilic Campylobacter spp. in 20 naturally contaminated chicken rinse samples was carried out using the two most common standard protocols: Preston and Park–Sanders, as proposed by Nordic Committee on Food Analysis (NMKL) and International Standard Organization (ISO), respectively. For both protocols, the chicken rinse samples were prepared in 500 ml buffered peptone water, as recommended in the ISO protocol no. 6887-2. The results indicated that the Preston protocol was superior to the Park–Sanders protocol in supporting growth of Campylobacter spp. In conclusion, the established semi-quantitative assessment using Preston broth could be useful in monitoring the outcome of control programs or quantitative risk assessments.