Airborne micro‐organisms in poultry processing plants

Synopsis The levels of aerobic micro‐organisms in the air of four poultry processing plants were determined. High total counts were obtained in the intake bay and plucking areas of all plants and in the eviscerating, trussing and packing areas and chilled holding‐room at one plant. Numbers were generally fairly low in the latter areas of the other plants, as were counts of coli‐aerogenes and yeasts and moulds. Staphylo‐coccus aureus was found in the air of all the areas in one plant, but these were shown not to be of human origin. Salmonellae were not found in any of the samples. The contribution of the micro‐organisms in the air to final contamination on carcasses should not be high under normal operating conditions if the intake bay and plucking areas are well sealed off from the other parts of the plant.