Prevalence of Salmonella enterica on poultry processing equipment after completion of sanitization procedures

Abstract Salmonella is a poultry-borne pathogen that causes illness throughout the world. Consequently, it is critical to control Salmonella during the process of converting broilers to poultry meat. Sanitization of a poultry processing facility, including processing equipment, is a crucial control measure that is utilized by poultry integrators. However, prevalence of Salmonella on equipment after sanitization and its potential risk to food safety has not been evaluated thoroughly. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the persistence of Salmonella on poultry processing equipment before and following cleaning and sanitization procedure. A total of 15 locations within 6 commercial processing plants were sampled at 3 time points: (A) after processing; (B) after cleaning; and (C) after sanitization; on 3 separate visits for a total of 135 samples per plant. Salmonella-positive isolates were recovered from samples using the USDA MLG 4.09 conventional method. Presumptive Salmonella colonies were subjected to biochemical tests for confirmation. Salmonella isolates recovered after sanitization were serotyped and tested for the presence of specific virulence genes. A completely randomized design with a 6 x 3 x 15 factorial arrangement was utilized to analyze the results for Salmonella prevalence between processing plants. Means were separated using Fishers protected LSD when P ≤ 0.05. For Salmonella prevalence between processing plants, differences (p