Thermal inactivation D- and Z-values of Salmonella and Listeria innocua in fully cooked and vacuum packaged chicken breast meat during postcook heat treatment

Studies were conducted to determine thermal inactivation D- and z-values of Salmonella and Listeria innocua in fully cooked and vacuum-packaged chicken breast meat. Fully cooked chicken breast meat products that were obtained from three different sources with differing formulations were uniformly inoculated with a cocktail of Salmonella (including Senftenberg, Typhimurium, Heidelberg, Mission, Montevideo, and California) or L. innocua at approximately 10(7) cfu/g. The inoculated meat samples were vacuum-packaged and then heat-treated at a temperature of 55 to 70 C for 5 to 90 min. After heat treatment, the samples were immediately cooled in an ice-water bath. Survivors of Salmonella and L. innocua were enumerated for each sample. D- and z-values of Salmonella and L. innocua were determined for each product and compared among the products. Source and formulation did not cause significant differences in the D- and z-values of Salmonella or L. innocua among the three fully cooked and vacuum-packaged chicken breast meat products.