Evaluation of a novel ozone generation technique for disinfection of poultry hatchers and processed broiler carcasses

Abstract

When comparing electrochemically generated ozone(03)(2.94.2 wt % inside the (hatcher) and formaldehyde (16 n-A formalin + 7.5 g potassium pertnanganate) for disinfection of Salmonella enteiltidis (SE) contaminated agar plates and typical hatchery pathogens, formaldehyde and 0, produced comparable reductions of mean total aerobic colony forming units (cfu) in two trials. Similarly, mean total fungal cfu were reduced by either 03or formaldehyde funfigation. Exposure of SE contaminated plates to either 0, or formaldehyde finnigation resulted in total eradication of the organism under these conditions. These data suggest thato3may provide an attractive alternative to formaldehyde under some commercial conditions for disinfection. Previous invesfigations have indicated that moderate improvements in the microbiological quality of processed poultry carcasses can be achieved through exposure of the carcass to ozonated chill water. Presently, the efficacy of gaseouso3for reducing experimental SE contamination of processed broiler skin or intact broiler carcasses was evaluated in five experiments. Exposure of artificially SE-contaniinated sidn samples to up to 8 wt % gaseous o3 for up to 480 s reduced (P<.05) recoverable SE by less than 1.3 log units in all cases in three experiments. Furthermore, exposure of artificially SE-contaminated intact broiler caracasses to up to 6 wt % gaseous O3 for up to 240 s reduced (P<05) recoverable SE by less than .90 log units in all cases in two experiments. Although gaseous O3 exposure significantly decreased SE associated with whole broiler carcasses, the limited disinfection observed in the present studies (< 1 log) indicates that gasoues O3 based disinfection alone will have limited commercial application for the reduction of this important food-borne pathogen.