Microbiology and Chickenmeat

Hi,


Im currently working for a company which produces chicken fillets. I was wondering which microbiological parameters are wise to test.

The point is that I have multiple facilities under my control which all test on different parameters.

I know salmonella and campylobacter, we already do that on al sites, but how often is it neccesary to test (daily, weekly, monthly...)

Is it wise to test for Entrobacteriaceae, which is known to appear numerous on chicken meat??


I hope anyone can help me with this.


ps: is there some sort of website/ database thing for bacteria??

Dear darsen

Not my direct area but it will generally depend on the precise product form / the process and yr intended usage / objectives.
Some possibilities are RTE / non-RTE product, (generic) HACCP plan, legislatory, customer requirements, standard (eg iso 22000). Most production companies are obliged to study at least the first 4 applications so as to be able to market the product safely to someone / somewhere.

As an example, here is a (2000) link to a HACCP plan which contains an extended microbiological discussion of raw chicken meat production.

haccp_chicken_v2appix_4.pdf   267.12KB   67 downloads

The ICMSF in their famous “microorganisms in foods” series hv issued their opinion for recommended mic.criteria on many products (inc.chicken from memory) based on a combination of haccp assessment and (achievable) industry-wide data. The products/data analyses section in their earliest relevant reference, vol 2 I think, is freely dwlable on the net (somewhere).

The frequency of testing will depend on a risk analysis, available resources, and some of the above mentioned again, not withstanding the HACCP principle of non-dependance on mic. testing of the end product.

Currently available databases, sorry no idea. What exactly do you mean? Geographically compared mic. criteria ? or just for yr specific location (XX?) One is mentioned in the above link. Chicken people here may know more ???.

Rgds / Charles.C