Commercial field trial evaluation of mucosal starter culture to reduce Salmonella incidence in processed broiler carcasses.

A series of four paired-house studies was conducted in Arkansas, Alabama, and Georgia (two farms) to determine the efficacy of Mucosal Starter Culture (MSC) in eliminating or reducing salmonellae in broiler chickens. Randomly designated chicks were treated twice with MSC. First they were sprayed with an MSC solution using a spray vaccination cabinet in the hatchery, and then they received MSC in the first drinking water at the growing house. Chicks were grown in identically constructed and equipped paired houses managed by the same grower. At the end of grow-out, broilers were tested for the presence of salmonellae on the farm and during processing. In three trials where no hatchery salmonellae were found, less salmonellae were found on MSC-treated chickens compared to untreated chickens. On the farm at the end of grow-out, salmonellae were detected in 54 of 150 untreated control chickens compared to 40 of 180 MSC-treated chickens. In the processing plant, significantly (P < or = 0.05) more salmonellae were detected on prechill untreated control carcasses (23 of 180) compared to MSC-treated carcasses (12 of 180) and on untreated postchill processed carcasses (9 of 180) compared to MSC-treated carcasses (0 of 180). In one trial where appreciable (28% of egg shell samples) salmonellae was found before treatment with the MSC, more salmonellae were found in the treated birds than in the control birds both on the farm and after processing. These data confirm that when salmonellae levels were controlled in the hatchery, a significant reduction in the salmonellae was found on processed broiler carcasses treated with MSC and that this reduction in salmonellae was carried through processing to the final processed carcass, thus potentially reducing consumer exposure to salmonellae.