Prevalence of Listeria monocytogenes in chicken production chain in Thailand

Abstract

This study was conducted from 2004 to 2009 to investigate the prevalence of Listeria monocytogenes in the chicken production chain in Thailand from primary production stages to processing plants. A total of 14,670 samples were taken from 43 breeder farms, 32 hatcheries, 1331 broiler farms, 22 slaughterhouses and 22 ready-to-eat (RTE) chicken products from processing plants. Various types of samples were collected: soiled litter, water, and chicken feed from breeder and broiler farms; swabs and mecomium from hatcheries; cloacal swabs and fresh frozen chicken meat from slaughterhouses; and RTE chicken products from processing plants. This study showed that there was no L. monocytogenes contamination in the chicken production chain except in slaughterhouses and processing plants. This implies that the chickens did not carry the organism into slaughterhouses, and consequently primary production practices were not responsible for the contamination of end products. This suggests that the observed L. monocytogenes contamination in 59 (2.5%) and 2 (0.2%) samples of fresh frozen chicken meat and RTE chicken products, respectively, was due to breakdowns in the application of good hygienic and/or good manufacturing practices.