The effect of cooling on Campylobacter spp. in chicken meat

Abstract

Campylobacteriosis is the most common zoonosis in many countries. It is usually transmitted to humans through food. The main source is raw poultry, but meat from other animals, raw milk and drinking water can also harbour infective levels of Campylobacter. The increasing rate of antimicrobial resistance of Campylobacter spp. is of great concern. The high prevalence of campylobacteriosis in humans has initiated a lot of studies, many of them focusing on the survival of Campylobacter at refrigeration and freezing temperatures. In this study we examined the effect of cooling on Campylobacter spp. in chicken meat over the course of 2 weeks. Chicken meat injected with Campylobacter spp. isolated from chicken was used as samples. The amount of surviving bacteria after storage at 10, 4, and 2 °C was determined by measuring the redox potential using a MicroTester on day 0, 7 and 14.