Monitoring of contamination sources of <ce:italic>Listeria monocytogenes</ce:italic> in a poultry slaughterhouse

This study evaluated the incidence and identify the Listeria monocytogenes potential contamination in a poultry slaughter plant and assessed the effectiveness of the sanitation process used by the company. A total of 920 breast and 774 thigh samples were analyzed, and L. monocytogenes was found in 8...
Ausführliche Beschreibung

This study evaluated the incidence and identify the Listeria monocytogenes potential contamination in a poultry slaughter plant and assessed the effectiveness of the sanitation process used by the company. A total of 920 breast and 774 thigh samples were analyzed, and L. monocytogenes was found in 8.64 and 44.19% of the samples, respectively. The thigh samples presented more contamination than the breast, throughout the study. The third work shift showed the highest thigh contamination (51%). The contamination percentage was lowest in summer and greater in winter. L. monocytogenes contamination in whole carcasses was absent in samples collected before the chilling process, while 5% of the samples were contaminated after this process. After the automated cutting process, the L. monocytogenes contamination percentage increased linearly, reaching 25 and 70% after 5 h for breast and thighs, respectively. The percentage of contamination on the equipment and utensils used on thigh samples was high during the processing (86.67%) and after the cleaning operation (66.87%). After pre-operational sanitation of equipment and utensils a lower incidence of L. monocytogenes in the production line was observed. Ausführliche Beschreibung