Microbiological Quality of Vacuum Packaged Poultry With or Without Chlorine Treatment

Dry packed broilers were cut up or kept as whole carcasses and vacuum packaged in a high barrier or low barrier film or stretch wrapped in a tray package. In an additional study, chicken was treated with 20 ppm chlorine in a chilled water dip; control chicken had no chlorine added to the water. The poultry was then packaged as previously indicated. The chicken was stored in a display case at about 5°C and examined for various bacteria and odor development at intervals up to 10 days. Vacuum packaging dry packed broilers resulted in significantly lower bacterial counts and longer keeping time compared with stretch wrapped chicken. Longest shelf life was obtained with a high barrier film, and chlorine as a dip did not provide increased storage life compared with vacuum packaged broilers maintained in the dry state.