Research: Russian retail chicken registers 30% salmonella prevalence

Russian and US researchers have published a study in a recent issue of the Journal of Food Protection, that examined broiler carcasses from three regions of Russia. The researchers have estimated that overall salmonella prevalence on raw retail chicken meat in Russia is around 31.5%.

The objective of the study, carried out by the University of Georgia, the USDA, the Russian Consumer Rights Protection Society, the All-Russian State Center for Quality and Standardization of Veterinary Drugs and Feed and the Leningrad Interregional Veterinary Laboratory in St Petersburg was to estimate the prevalence of Salmonella on raw retail chicken meat in Russia.

Methods
Broiler chicken carcasses (n = 698) were collected from three regions of Russia: central (i.e., Moscow area), northwest (i.e., St Petersburg area), and southern (i.e., Krasnodar area). In each region, samples were collected to represent various cities and districts, as well as different types of retail stores and carcass storage temperatures (i.e., chilled and frozen). All chicken samples were analyzed for the presence of Salmonella using a whole-carcass rinse method.

Results
The overall Salmonella prevalence was 31.5%.

There were significant differences (P < 0.05) in Salmonella prevalence by (i) region—29.3% (n = 464) in Moscow, 38.5% (n = 192) in St. Petersburg, and 23.8% (n = 42) in Krasnodar; (ii) retail store type—28.8% (n = 236) in hypermarkets, 31.9% (n = 260) in supermarkets (part of chain stores), 44.3% (n = 61) in independent supermarkets, 42.9% (n = 28) in independent minimarkets, and 26.6% (n = 113) in wet markets; and (iii) poultry company—34.3% (n = 545) on chickens produced by integrated companies compared with 22.9% (n = 118) on chickens produced by nonintegrated companies.

Strategies such as good agriculture and management practices should be enhanced to reduce Salmonella prevalence on raw poultry in Russia and therefore increase the safety of chicken products.

Source: Journal of Food Protection