Risk Assessment for Salmonellosis in Chicken in South Korea: The Effect of Salmonella Concentration in Chicken at Retail

Salmonellosis caused by chicken consumption has been a critical issue in food safety worldwide, including in Korea. The probability of illness from consumption of chicken was simulated in study, based on the recipe of Dakgalbi, a commonly eaten chicken dish in Korea. Additionally, the processing stage at slaughterhouses to decrease concentration in broilers was modeled to explore its effect on the likelihood of illness. A Monte Carlo simulation model was created using @RISK. Prevalence of in chickens at the retail stage was found to be predominantly important in determining the probability of illness. Other than the prevalence, cooking temperature was found to have the largest impact on the probability of illness. The results also demonstrated that, although chlorination is a powerful tool for decreasing the concentration in chicken, this effect did not last long and was negated by the following stages. This study analyzes the effects of variables of the retail-to-table pathway on the likelihood of salmonellosis in broiler consumption, and also evaluates the processing step used to decrease the contamination level of in broilers at slaughterhouses. According to the results, we suggest that methods to decrease the contamination level of such as chlorination had little effect on decreasing the probability of illness. Overall, these results suggest that preventing contamination of broiler with must be a top priority and that methods to reduce the concentration of in broilers at slaughterhouses hardly contribute to safe consumption of -contaminated chicken.