Turkey skin could hold the key to salmonella contamination

The scientists at the University of Georgia’s Poultry and Research Centre have found that salmonella on the bird’s skin may be a significant contributor to ground turkey contamination.

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Turkey skin used as fat source in processing

Turkey skin is often used as a source of fat when manufacturers make ground turkey as the muscles are so lean.

Past research has led scientists to believe that cross-contamination with faecal material on the turkeys during processing was the main cause of salmonella contamination. In a study published last year, 300 samples per type of turkey parts were collected and tested for salmonella. The results found that salmonella was found in:

• 13.7% of drumstick skin
• 19.7% of thigh skin
• 25% of chicken wing skin

Study found contamination in 30% of in breast skin samples

In the current study, which has been published in this month’s Food Poisoning Bulletin, researchers inoculated 1 day old commercial turkeys with a salmonella cocktail that contained 5 different Heidelberg strains. Tests were conducted in lymphatics, tibiotarsus (a bone in the chicken’s leg) and in breast skin.

All of the muscle-tissue and tibiotarsus samples tested negative for the pathogenic bacteria. But 30% of the breast-skin samples were positive for Salmonella Heidelberg.

The US study was prompted by 5 major Salmonella Heidelberg outbreaks linked to poultry products between 2011 and 2014, which affected hundreds of people across the country.