Survive and thrive: Control mechanisms that facilitate bacterial adaptation to survive manufacturing-related stress

The control of bacterial contaminants on chicken meat is a key area of interest in the broiler industry. Microbes that pose a significant food safety risk on chicken include Campylobacter spp., Salmonella enterica, Listeria monocytogenes and Escherichia coli. In addition, microbes including Pseudomonas spp., Brochothrix thermosphacta and Lactic Acid Bacteria must be controlled to ensure product quality and maintain shelf-life. Poultry meat processing challenges including cold and chemical exposure are employed to control the microbiota of the end-product, as well as to maintain environment hygiene. Exposure to these stresses can also induce adaptive shifts in the transcriptome and proteome of foodborne bacteria. This review will explore the complex interactions at play in the poultry processing environment and explain how bacteria exposed to such stresses behave in this environmental niche through the production of heat and cold-shock proteins, the expression of efflux pumps, sporulation, and the formation of mono- and mixed-species biofilms within the production environment. •Challenging conditions and hurdles are employed throughout poultry meat production.•Bacteria adapt to stress to enhance survival on an individual and population level.•Metabolic adaptions, transcriptomic changes and shock proteins aid individual survival.•Communities benefit from biofilm formation, efflux activity and antimicrobial tolerance.•Surviving bacteria may cause illness in consumers and production issues for manufacturers.