• No associations were observed between indicator levels and Salmonella presence at any sampling location. • Indicator organisms reflect carcass process control but not comminuted products. • Salmonella detection was higher in ground turkey than at re-hang or post-chill. • Strong re-hang to post-chill associations did not extend through grinding. Salmonella enterica is a leading cause of foodborne illness worldwide, with poultry products serving as a major source of human infection. In the United States, Salmonella oversight in poultry relies on USDA-FSIS verification testing, which requires sampling 1 out of every 3,000 birds at re-hang and post-chill to assess process control. However, the extent to which microbial indicator data collected at these locations reflect contamination in final ground turkey products is not well characterized. This study evaluated the predictive value of microbial indicator testing for Salmonella contamination in ground turkey. A total of 455 samples were collected from 40 commercial turkey barns at a commercial processing facility, including 200 re-hang, 200 post-chill, and 55 grinding samples. Aerobic plate counts, Enterobacteriaceae, generic Escherichia coli , and Salmonella were detected and quantified. Significant differences in indicator levels were observed among processing stages (P 0.05). While strong associations were observed between re-hang and post-chill indicator counts (P 0.05). These findings indicate that indicator-based process control metrics do not reliably predict Salmonella contamination in ground turkey and highlight the need for product- and process-specific monitoring strategies.
Paredes et al. (Fri,) studied this question.