Consumer food preparation and its implication for survival of Campylobacter jejuni on chicken

• Published in: British food journal (1966) Vol. 109; no. 7; pp. 548 - 561
• Main Authors: Bergsma, Nynke J, Fischer, Arnout R.H, Van Asselt, Esther D, Zwietering, Marcel H, De Jong, Aarieke E.I
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bradford Emerald Group Publishing Limited 01.01.2007
• Subjects: bacterial contamination; Campylobacter; Campylobacter jejuni; chicken meat; Chickens; Consumer research; Consumers; Cooking; decontamination; Demographics; domestic environment; food contamination; Food contamination & poisoning; Food microbiology; food pathogens; Food safety; Gas flow; Heat; home food preparation; Inactivation; Infections; Laboratories; Meat; microbial inactivation; Microbiology; netherlands; Pathogens; perceptions; Poultry; products; Questionnaires; resistance; risk; safety; salmonella; Studies; temperature; The Netherlands; thermal inactivation; Netherlands; Consumer research; The Netherlands; Food safety
• ISSN: 0007-070X; 1758-4108
• DOI: 10.1108/00070700710761536

Purpose - The disease burden caused by Campylobacter jejuni may be decreased by reduced consumption of undercooked chicken meat. However, little is known about consumer preparation of poultry and the effects of commonly applied cooking times on bacterial inactivation. This study aimed to answer these questions.Design methodology approach - Surveys were mailed in The Netherlands and analysed and laboratory inactivation experiments were conducted for the most frequent preparation method.Findings - The surveys revealed that the predominant way of chicken meat cooking was (stir)frying fillets and that consumers were generally aware of the presence of bacteria on chicken meat. Thorough heating of meat was considered important, which was often checked by visual inspection. In the laboratory, D-values for C. jejuni were obtained at frying temperatures: D was 1.95 min for artificially contaminated whole and D 0.59 min for diced fillets, respectively under practically relevant conditions. Large variability in survival was found, however.Originality value - The paper shows that by combining consumer research and food microbiology it was concluded that the actual risk of consumption of chicken breast fillets that contain surviving C. jejuni is higher than previously assumed.