By Brooke Hatfield
University of Georgia
Salmonella contamination can cause major problems in Georgia
poultry plants. But one scientist’s efforts have prevented
several plant shutdowns by helping reduce the level of bacteria
in plants.
“The biggest problem I hear from the industry is ‘I can’t get
my
arms around the Salmonella issue,’” said Scott Russell, a poultry
scientist with the University of Georgia College of Agricultural
and Environmental Sciences.
“Salmonella is a ubiquitous organism,” he said. “It can be
found
in the environment, so it can be transferred to chickens
easily.”
Poultry problems are Georgia problems
Any problem connected to the poultry industry is a Georgia
problem. Poultry is the state’s biggest agricultural industry,
with more than $13 billion in annual farm income. Failure to meet
federal Salmonella standards can cause plant shutdowns, resulting
in employee layoffs.
With 750 to 1,200 workers per plant, such layoffs would cost
poultry plants half a million dollars a day in sales, Russell
said. To the workers, the income loss could be devastating.
And if a plant is shut down, what happens to the live chickens
that are en route? If a processing plant is shut down because of
excessive Salmonella levels, animal welfare problems surface,
especially in the summer.
Preventing plant shutdowns
This year, Russell has helped prevent shutdowns at five major
poultry processing companies.
The nature of poultry processing adds to the salmonella
problem.
Since most of the chicken is uncooked, it’s possible for bacteria
in the bird to survive.
“There will always be bacteria when you are dealing with raw
poultry products,” Russell said. “But (U.S. Department of
Agriculture) regulations dictate how meat plants follow rules in
terms of food safety.”
The Pathogen Reduction/Hazard Analysis and Critical Control
Point
(HACCP) system requires poultry plants to keep Salmonella levels
on chicken carcasses below 23.5 percent.
That percentage may sound high. “Actually, it’s really low
when
you look at it holistically,” Russell said. “We’re never going to
get it to zero.”
It just takes one cell
A carcass needs to have only one Salmonella cell to test
positive
for Salmonella.
“The average number of Salmonella cells on a positive carcass
is
four to five and almost always less than 30,” Russell said.
The USDA tests carcasses for Salmonella for 51 days. If a
plant
fails, it has 30 days to fix the problem before testing resumes.
The testing process outlined by HACCP allows for three strikes
before a plant is shut down.
“If they fail the third series, that’s when they’re in serious
trouble,” Russell said. Once a plant gets a third strike, it must
be shut down and reevaluated before retesting can resume.
When the USDA realizes there’s a problem in a Georgia plant,
they
call Russell, a poultry production and processing microbiologist.
He’s been helping poultry plants reduce pathogen levels since
1997.
Salmonella presents a complex problem. There’s no one way to
completely eliminate it. Russell takes what he calls a
“multihurdle approach.” He attacks the bacteria from many
points.
“The Salmonella problem must be approached in the field, as
well
as in eggs and breeder chickens,” he said. “During hatching and
grow-out, flies must be controlled, and various points in the
plant must be monitored and controlled.”
Another poultry processing factor makes it hard to control
Salmonella.
Treating chicken is different from beef and
pork
“With beef and pork, we remove the hide,” Russell said. “With
poultry, the skin (which has been exposed to the environment) is
what’s being tested.”
To further protect themselves and their families, consumers
must
learn to deal with raw poultry safely, too.
“They need to handle it properly,” Russell said. “Any surface
that raw chicken has contacted should be cleaned. And people
should be sure to wash their hands thoroughly before and after
handling raw chicken.”
