Comparison of two commercially available rapid detection methods and a conventional culture method to detect naturally occurring salmonellae on broiler carcasses

Detection of Salmonella on commercially processed broiler carcasses is essential to reduce the incidences of human salmonellosis. This study was designed to compare the standard procedure for Salmonella detection with two commercial screening methods. During seven separate visits to two processing plants, eight carcasses were obtained (n = 112). Each carcass was rinsed and the rinsate processed according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) protocol. Predetermined aliquots of rinsates were screened on the BAX® and Roka® instruments according to manufacturer's protocol and analyzed using the USDA, FSIS cultural method. Four Salmonella‐like colonies from presumptive positive rinsates were selected, screened biochemically, and serologically confirmed as Salmonella. Results indicated Salmonella was recovered from 15.2% (17/112), 14.3% (16/112), and 12.5% (14/112) of carcasses by cultural methods, BAX, and Roka analysis, respectively. These findings indicate that both rapid, molecular methods tested were as effective as the conventional cultural procedure in detecting Salmonella from broiler carcass rinsates. Practical Applications According to the results of this study, there was no statistical difference in the number of carcass rinsates in which Salmonella was detected by the three methods. The ability of all three methods to detect naturally occurring Salmonella provides the poultry industry and regulatory agencies more tools to increase the safety of poultry products available to the consumer.