Use of carcass washing for microbial reduction after broiler evisceration

Broiler production and processing have several points to be monitored to reduce the losses and to improve meat quality. Among these points, an important point is related to bird processing on the slaughterhouse, highlighting the evisceration. This step may cause large losses for the industry by the condemnation of carcasses by fecal contamination. The current Brazilian legislation allows the removal of contaminated parts through the process called trimming using a knife, and more recently the use of washing carcasses by shower sprays was also approved. However, there is no consensus regarding the efficiency of the washing process. Thus this study aimed to evaluate both decontamination processes used by the industry. Five groups of broiler carcasses were evaluated: with fecal contamination (CC); without apparent fecal contamination (SCA); with contamination and trimmed (CCR); with contamination and washed (CL); contaminated and washed/trimmed (CLR). Microbiological testing of all carcasses evaluated mesophiles, total coliforms, E. coli, and the presence and quantification of Salmonella spp by the most probable number method (MPN). For mesophiles the group that obtained the lowest scores was the CLR, with a significant difference for the CCR group that obtained the highest scores. Regarding the CC group, carcasses from the group CLR had a reduction of 1 log CFU/g. CL groups, SCA and CC had no significant differences for mesophiles. Washed carcasses (CL) had significant total coliform reduction compared to trimmed group (P