Purpose: To validate a water recycling system supplied with peroxyoctanoic acid (POOA, 30-40ppm) that will allow the plant to hold over the water used in a poultry chiller for multiple days.
Methods: Trials were conducted to assess the microbiological effects on turkey carcasses, water chiller media, and chiller surfaces during a 35 day baseline period of normal sanitation practices and a 68 day period of “Less-than-daily” (LTD) sanitation practices in which the media in the chiller was held over for periods of 5 days. E. coli, Enterobacter and aerobic plate counts (APC) populations were recovered from carcass samples. E. coli and APC populations were collected from water and contact surface samples. The water chiller media was treated with POOA during baseline and LTD periods. During the LTD period a water recycling system was utilized. Data was analyzed using Minitab Two-Sample t-test.
Results: There were significant (P < 0.05) reductions in E. coli and APC populations recovered from the carcass samples from LTD period vs. baseline period. LTD E. coli and APC results were 0.163 ± 0.44 and 1.24 ± 0.87 CFU/ml, respectively, vs. baseline results of 0.39 ± 0.64 and 1.81 ± 0.74 log CFU/ml, respectively. There were also significant (P < 0.05) reductions in APC populations recovered from contact surface and water samples. LTD contact surface APC results were 1.08 ± 1.02 vs. baseline results of 1.50 ± 1.00 log CFU/ml and LTD water APC results were 0.56 ± 0.78 vs. 0.90 ± 0.91 log CFU/ml for baseline. Although, not statistically significant (P > 0.05), all other LTD test results were lower than or equal to baseline results.
Significance: These data indicate that water in a poultry chiller supplied with POOA and a recycling system can be held over for multiple days with no impact on the carcasses, contact surfaces or water quality.