Hatching egg sanitisation reduces Salmonella in broiler chicks

摘要

Salmonellae are involved in human foodborne illness in many countries and poultry and poultry products are recognised as a major reservoir for this human pathogen.Salmonella serotypes isolated from the hatchery are the same as those from processed products. Therefore, as a port of entry, the hatchery is an important critical control point for biosecurity, pathogen reduction, and food safety programmes in poultry production. Salmonella from infected broiler breeders can be transmitted via faeces to newly laid eggs, and contaminated eggs have been demonstrated to be an important source for the spread of Salmonella to uncontaminated eggs in incubators and during hatching. Additionally, Salmonella typhimurium contamination of newly hatched chicks has been demonstrated to transmit horizontally within growing broiler flocks. The reduction of Salmonella contamination of eggs prior to entering thehatchery is critical and effective interventions at this point are useful to improve microbial food safety of poultry production. Hydrogen peroxide and ultraviolet light irradiation have been demonstrated to be effective to sanitise eggshell surfaces, asthey inactivate vegetative bacteria, bacterial en-dospores and viruses. The so-called Advanced Oxidation Process, is a combination of a hydrogen peroxide and UV treatment, and is an aqueous phase oxidation process which generates highly reactive oxygencompounds, due to the formation of hydroxyl radicals by photolysis. The effects of this automated Advanced Oxidation Process tested on Salmonella contamination of experimentally contaminated eggs during incubation, hatching, and in broiler chicks raisedto 14 days post hatch were evaluated. Experimentally contaminated eggs were incubated for 21 days. The sanitisation reduced Salmonella up to 7 loglOcfu per egg (P < 0.05) from the surface and reduced the number of Salmonella positive eggs by up to 75%. The treatment also reduced the number of Salmonella-positive eggs during incubation. Salmonellae were recovered from more chicks hatched from untreated eggs than from eggs treated using the egg sanitiser through 14 days post hatch.