An Evaluation of the Potential of High-Intensity Ultrasound for Improving the Microbial Safety of Poultry

The application of sonication and thermosonication (53 ± 1 °C) was investigated as potential methods for reducing numbers of Campylobacter, enterobacteriaceae and total viable counts (TVC) on raw poultry. Sonication equipment included a high-intensity unit (HI) and a low-intensity unit (LI), which produced 20,000 and 20 W/L, respectively. The susceptibility of ten Campylobacter isolates in liquid media to thermosonication treatment was also investigated to determine whether differences between isolates existed. All Campylobacter strains were susceptible to thermosonication in the HI unit with inactivations ranging from 2.97–4.15 log10 CFU/mL. Campylobacter jejuni was more susceptible to thermosonication than to thermal or sonication treatment with mean inactivations of 4.72, 1.45 and 3.17 log10 CFU/mL, respectively. Following 16 min thermal, sonication and thermosonication treatments of broiler skin pieces in the HI unit, no viable Campylobacter or enterobacteriaceae were detected and TVC were reduced by 1.93, 1.34 and 2.49 log10 CFU/g, respectively. Thermosonication treatment in the LI unit reduced enterobacteriaceae and TVC populations by 2.74 and 1.69 log10 CFU/g, respectively. Thermosonication treatment was generally more effective against Campylobacter in liquid matrices in comparison to inoculated poultry products.