Antimicrobial Interventions in Poultry Processing to Improve Shelf Life and Safety of Poultry Meat: A Review with Special Attention to Salmonella spp.

Abstract

Poultry meat is one of the most popularly consumed meats worldwide. With the increased consumption, the poultry industry is also facing major challenges in maintaining of safety and shelf life of the poultry meat. Microbial concerns related to poultry meat comprise of meat safety and shelf life as poultry meat is prone to contamination with spoilage as well as pathogenic microorganisms. Poultry may be contaminated with pathogenic microorganisms such as Salmonella spp. at various processing steps, posing significant health risk to the consumers. To reduce the predominance of food-borne pathogens such as Salmonella spp. as well as spoilage microorganisms, poultry processors can employ a multi-hurdle approach wherein antimicrobial interventions are applied at various steps of processing. This article reviewed different poultry processing steps and the antimicrobial interventions used in the poultry processing sector to improve safety, shelf life, and quality of poultry meat. This review provides comprehensive knowledge on safety of poultry meat with special attention to Salmonella spp. for the poultry industry as well as researchers throughout the world.