Chicken juice provides ‘perfect environment’ for campylobacter

17-Nov-2014 - Last updated on 17-Nov-2014 at 11:52 GMT

Juices provide the perfect environment for campylobacter to spread among chickens in food processing sites

Organic matter exuding from chicken carcasses provides the perfect environment for campylobacter to breed in food manufacturing sites, according a study from the Institute of Food Research (IFR).

Researchers collected the liquids produced from defrosting chickens, and found that they helped campylobacter attach to surfaces and subsequently form biofilms. Biofilms are specialised structures some bacteria form on surfaces that protect them from external threats.

The study was led by Helen Brown, a PhD student supervised by Dr Arnoud van Vliet at IFR, which is strategically funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.

Easier for campylobacter

Brown, whose PhD studentship is co-funded by Campden BRI, said: “We have discovered that this increase in biofilm formation was due to chicken juice coating the surfaces we used with a protein-rich film.

“This film then makes it much easier for the campylobacter bacteria to attach to the surface, and it provides them with an additional rich food source.”

Campylobacter aren’t particularly hardy bacteria, so one area of research had been to understand exactly how they managed to survive outside of their usual habitat, the intestinal tract of poultry, she added.

They are sensitive to oxygen, but during biofilm formation the bacteria protect themselves with a layer of slime. This also makes them more resistant to antimicrobials and disinfection treatments.

Understanding this and how campylobacter persists in the food production process could help efforts to reduce the high percentage of chickens that reach consumers contaminated with the bacteria, IFR claimed.

Although thorough cooking kills off the bacteria, about 500,000 people suffer from campylobacter food poisoning each year in the UK, it added.

“This study highlights the importance of thorough cleaning of food preparation surfaces to limit the potential of bacteria to form biofilms,” said Brown.

‘Reduce the incidence’

“This emphasises the importance of cleaning surfaces in food preparation, and may lead to more effective ways of cleaning that can reduce the incidence of campylobacter.”

Last month, researchers at the University of Bristol discovered there was an increased risk of the pathogen being spread internally in birds.

Meanwhile, Bernard Matthews claimed that a new rapid surface chilling technique could help control the spread of campylobacter for just 4–5p a bird.

Watch our exclusive video with the firm’s technical director Jeremy Hall here.