Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of Campylobacter in retail ground beef and poultry during spring in Lubbock, Texas.
Methods: A total of 340 poultry and ground beef samples with a variety of fat:lean ratios were collected from seven stores across the city of Lubbock, Texas. Samples were rinsed and enriched with Bolton broth and processed in accordance with standard BAX protocols (Dupont Qualicon) for the detection of Campylobacter. A Chi-square analysis was performed using SAS 9.3 to determine relationships between samples positive for Campylobacter and product type.
Results: Overall, the prevalence of Campylobacter was 25.29% with 86 positives for all samples collected (n = 340); where 16.76% of them were from beef (n = 190) and 8.53% of were from poultry (n = 150). Beef samples alone showed a 30% positive (57) while poultry had only 19.33% positives (29). Prevalence of Campylobacter in ground beef was significantly higher (P = 0.02) than that observed in poultry.
Significance: Retail is the final step in poultry and meat processing, and it is important to monitor pathogen contamination at this level in order to verify meat and poultry interventions and the safety of the product. This research is a snapshot of Campylobacter contamination in ground beef and poultry products at the retail level.