The isolation of Campylobacter spp. from modified atmosphere packaged foods

Abstract

Foodborne illness caused by Campylobacter spp. is a major public health concern in many countries. This study investigated the prevalence of Campylobacter spp. in modified atmosphere packaged (MAP) foods such as fresh meat and vegetables in order to assess the risk to human health from foods packaged using this new technology, the application of which is increasing rapidly. Samples of MAP chicken meat, MAP turkey meat, MAP bacon and MAP mixed salad vegetables from two supermarkets were tested for the presence of the organism in two types of samples; those tested immediately on purchase and those stored at 4 C (+/- 2 C) and subsequently tested on the 'use by' date stated on the package. Campylobacter spp. were found to be present in a proportion of all MAP products tested: 90% of MAP turkey samples, 71.25% of MAP chicken samples, 67.5% of cured bacon samples and 22.2% of mixed salad vegetables samples were found to be contaminated with Campylobacter spp. Viable counts indicated that the level of infection varied both between food products and between different packages of the same product. Turkey meat was found to have the highest numbers of organisms present (5.2 102-3.3 103 cfu g-1) compared with 0.2-7.2 102 cfu g-1 for chicken meat and 0.1-3.1 102 g-1 for bacon. The highest count obtained from one sample of salad vegetables was 1.7 102 cfu g-1 with the majority (16 out of a total of 20 positive samples) being less than 0.8 102 cfu g-1 and all 12 of the positive samples tested on date of purchase having viable counts of less than 0.1 102 cfu g-1.