Raw Chicken Juice - Understanding the Risk for Foodborne Illness from Campylobacter

Do people understand the risk when opening that package of raw chicken breasts?  Are they concerned about safe handling of the packaging material and the associated raw chicken juice (or more technically, the exudate)?  Maybe not as much as they should.

A recent study looked at the prevalence of Campylobacter, one of the leading causes of sporadic diarrheal illness in the US, within the package as well as on the outside of the package.  They found that Campylobacter was present in the chicken juice in 60% of packages where the chicken juice was tested.   As for the packaging, none of the outer surfaces had Campylobacter, except for one of the packages that was leaking.

Campylobacter is a commonly found on raw chicken, found on the surface of both skin-on and skin-off chicken, whether parts or whole.  Within the package, it can be found in the juice that comes off the bird, the surface of the bird, and the inner packaging.  Because of this, it is important that consumers not only properly handle the chicken meat, but also the packaging and any dripping chicken juice from the bird or the package.  Drops of chicken juice should be cleaned properly as you go.   Of course, handwashing is critical after handling the meat and the package.   It is also important to purchase packages that are not leaking and to make sure that the less-than-attentive store clerk bags the raw chicken separate from the other foods (in plastic).

Since chicken juice is clear, unlike exudate from red meat which is red in color, drops are more easily missed, or perhaps, not given the same attention.  However from a pathogen standpoint, this research shows that there is a high risk level for pathogen contamination in that chicken juice.

Detection of Campylobacter on the Outer Surface of Retail Broiler Chicken Meat Packages and on Product Within 
Food Protection Trends, vol. 36, no. 3, pp. 176-182, May 2016
Volume 36, Issue 3: Pages 176–182
https://www.foodprotection.org/publications/food-protection-trends/archive/2016-05-detection-of-campylobacter-on-the-outer-surface-of-retail-broiler-chicken-meat-packages-and-/

Study - Removing Pathogens from Produce by Brushing or by Peeling

In this month's Journal of Food Protection, a research article looks at removing pathogens from the surface of produce by brushing and peeling.  Celery, carrots, honeydew and cantaloupes were inoculated with high does of pathogens, brushed and or peeled, and then analyzed.

In the end, it comes down to this  - if, as in this study, produce is heavily contaminated with pathogens, those pathogen can be difficult to remove with either brushing or peeling, especially once the brushes or peelers become contaminated.  But in reality, with very few exceptions where GAPs are not follow, pathogens are absent from produce.

A few of the findings:

• "Pathogen removal (either E. coli O157:H7 or Salmonella) was significantly lower from contaminated cantaloupes than from other contaminated produce items".  Yeah, it's the rougher surface, so it is going to stick there.
• "Both pathogens could still be detected on all produce items brushed with any of the three brush types suggest that contamination of the peeler is a likely route for transfer of pathogens from the surface to the internal tissues."  Once your cleaning tools encounter contamination, they can spread it. 
• "The incidence of contamination for the nylon brush was significantly lower than that for the Sparta brush, which in turn was significantly lower than that for the scouring pad."  The harder to clean the brush or pad, the more that it can contaminate.
• "To reduce risk further, consumers should be advised that brushing or peeling under running water may be beneficial for limiting contamination of the utensil and thus the risk of cross contamination to noncontaminated produce items subsequently processed with the same utensil."  Keep your brushes and peelers clean.

A Sparta Brush

 

Journal of Food Protection®, Number 9, September 2015, pp. 1624-1769, pp. 1624-1631(8)

Role of Brushes and Peelers in Removal of Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Salmonella from Produce in Domestic Kitchens

Authors: Erickson, Marilyn C.¹; Liao, Jean²; Cannon, Jennifer L.²; Ortega, Ynes R.²

Abstract (bulletized)

Study - Analyzing Listeria Contamination in a Processing Plant Over Time

Listeria contamination within a processing facility if often an ongoing battle.  In a paper published in the International Journal of Food Microbiology, researchers analyzed Listeria contamination over time in a cheese processing plant.  While they made progress in getting the Listeria contamination under control, they were never able to eliminate it.  In this study, they found that certain species of Listeria are well geared to establish themselves in the facility, making eradication impossible.

International Journal of Food Microbiology
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijfoodmicro.2014.08.001
L. monocytogenes in a cheese processing facility: Learning from contamination scenarios over three years of sampling