The use of ultraviolet radiation to reduce Salmonella and psychrotrophic bacterial contamination on poultry carcasses.

Broiler carcasses were subjected to ultraviolet (UV) energy (doses range from 82,560 to 86,400 muWs/cm2) at wavelength of 253.7 nm to evaluate the potential of this treatment for improving the microbiological quality of broiler carcasses. Broiler chicken halves were inoculated with a marker strain of Salmonella typhimurium 5 min prior to treatment. A 61% reduction in viable S. typhimurium was observed in UV-treated chicken halves as compared with untreated halves. The UV energy treatment had no deleterious effects on color (Hunter L, aL, or bL) or 2-thiobarbituric acid (TBA) values. After 10 d of storage at 7 C, TBA values of thigh meat were 1.3 mg malonaldehyde/kg meat compared with 1.7 for controls. Psychrotrophic bacteria populations were not appreciably altered by UV treatment when their numbers were compared with bacterial counts obtained from untreated chicken halves held for 10 d at 7 C. This study suggests that UV radiation can reduce Salmonella surface contamination without negatively affecting carcass color or increasing rancidity of the meat.