Innovations Are Enhancing Poultry From Farm to Fork

Among its services, USPOULTRY provides technical assistance and education to its 470-plus members, according to Rafael Rivera, MS, the organization’s manager of food safety and production programs.

For the poultry meat sector in particular, USPOULTRY developed reference documents explaining whole genome sequencing use. “Members get an introduction to what whole genome sequencing is and how can it be used as a meat quality and food safety tool,” Rivera relates. “The documents provide guidance into what type of equipment they should think about acquiring if they wish to use this technology in areas beyond regulatory compliance.

“In addition, we have developed training in the area of carcass sorting, for those companies that are transitioning to the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) New Poultry Inspection System (NPIS),” Rivera continues. “The training has a teacher manual and a student manual for reference. This training helps our members develop skills to perform the sorting tasks that fall into plants’ responsibilities under NPIS.”

There isn’t a deadline for NPIS. “This is a voluntary program and it can only be implemented at a plant after FSIS approval,” Rivera explains. “The manuals allow plants to set up their training for the sorting task, since under NPIS this responsibility changes to the plant instead of government sorters.” (There is still government inspection to ensure the task is performed correctly, Rivera mentions.)

USPOULTRY funds research to improve product safety and support the entire poultry supply chain, Rivera adds. “We are also collaborating with the Partnership for Food Safety Education to spread the word to consumers about proper food handling and preparation.”

Prebiotics: Updates from Arkansas

University of Arkansas (UARK) researchers have been reviewing the effect of prebiotics on foodborne pathogens in poultry.

“We noticed that there has been increased commercial interest in recent years for giving feed additives to chickens that limit foodborne Salmonella and Campylobacter establishment in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT),” says Steven Ricke, PhD, the Wray food safety endowed chair and director of the UARK Center for Food Safety, Fayetteville.

“Prebiotics have been examined as potential candidates,” Dr. Ricke relates. “They are generally oligosaccharide polymers that are not available to the chicken but can be utilized by the native bacteria of the chicken’s GIT.”

According to Dr. Ricke, prebiotics are effective against pathogens because they are fermented by the “good” bacteria of the GIT to produce short chain organic acids such as lactate, acetate, propionate, and butyrate. The presence of these organic acids, along with other inhibitory mechanisms, prevents pathogens from colonizing and becoming established in the chicken GIT, he explains.

“While prebiotics offer considerable promise as feed additives for poultry production, more research needs to be done to identify additional prebiotic candidates and elucidate mechanisms that make them effective against pathogens,” Dr. Ricke emphasizes.

Campylobacter Research

A University of Georgia (UGA) study published in March 2019 demonstrates the effects of chickens raised without antibiotics and with organic methods on the prevalence and antimicrobial resistance of Campylobacter.

Results show that organic birds had a lower prevalence (P < 0.05) of Campylobacter and lower populations of presumptive Campylobacter during early processing steps, according to Manpreet Singh, PhD, professor of food safety and processing in the UGA Department of Poultry Science, Athens. “However, no differences (P > 0.05) between organic and conventional birds were seen post-chill, with the exception of a lower prevalence in post-water-chill organic birds,” Dr. Singh reports.

“These observations show that organic methods can be associated with lower initial Campylobacter levels than can conventional methods, although appropriate processing interventions result in similar Campylobacter populations post-chill, regardless of processing method,” Dr. Singh explains. “Prevalence of antimicrobial resistant Campylobacter in chickens at slaughter suggests that raising birds without the use of antimicrobials may not be effective in reducing the incidence of antimicrobial resistant Campylobacter in chicken meat.”