The objective of this study was to determine the effectiveness of the combined use of an inside-outside-bird-washer for the removal of visible contamination and an online acidified sodium chlorite (ASC) spray system in reducing microbial levels on contaminated poultry carcasses. Specifically, we attempted to determine if this technique (referred to as continuous online processing [COP]) would (i) eliminate the need for offline reprocessing of contaminated carcasses, (ii) meet Zero Fecal Tolerance standards, and (iii) attain significant reductions in titers of some of the commonly found bacterial species. Carcasses were sampled for Escherichia coli, Salmonella, and Campylobacter at five stations along the processing lines in a series of five commercial giant studies to compare the efficacy of the COP system to that of offline processing. The microbiological quality of fecally contaminated carcasses was found to be significantly better following COP treatment (E, coli, 0.59 log(10) CFU/ml; Salmonella, 10.0% incidence) than after standard offline reprocessing (E. coli, 2.37 log(10) CFU/mL; Salmonella, 31.6% incidence). Zero Fecal Tolerance requirements were met by all but 2 (0.2%) of the 1,127 carcasses following COP. COP also significantly reduced the titers of Campylobacter; residual titers were 1.14 log(10) CFU/ml (49.1% incidence) following COP, compared to 2.89 log(10) CFU/ml (73.2% incidence) in carcasses that underwent offline reprocessing. These results support the combined use of an inside-outside-bird-washer for the removal of visible contamination and an online ASC spray system to reduce microbial levels in commercially processed poultry.
