Effect of Packaging-Film Thicknesses on Thermal Inactivation of Salmonella and Listeria innocua in Fully Cooked Chicken Breast Meat

• Published in: Journal of food science Vol. 67; no. 9; pp. 3435 - 3440
• Main Authors: Murphy, R.Y, Duncan, L.K, Marcy, J.A, Berrang, M.E, Driscoll, K.H
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.11.2002; Institute of Food Technologists; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Bacteria; Biological and medical sciences; breast meat; cooked foods; Food industries; Food microbiology; Food packaging; Food science; fully cooked chicken; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; heat inactivation; Listeria; Listeria innocua; Meat and meat product industries; packaging-film thickness; Poultry; poultry meat; Salmonella; thermal lethality; Salmonella; Heat treatment; packaging-film thickness; Microbiological testing; Pasteurization; Meat product; fully cooked chlcken; Vacuum packaging; Inactivation; Chicken meat; Plastic film; Thickness; thermal lethality; Listeria; Bacteria; Conditioning; Biological contamination; Enterobacteriaceae; Listeria innocua
• ISSN: 0022-1147; 1750-3841
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2621.2002.tb09602.x

The study was conducted to determine the effect of packaging-film thicknesses on thermal inactivation of Salmonella and Listeria innocua in cooked chicken breast meat. The meat was inoculated to contain 107 CFU/g of Salmonella or L. innocua and vacuum-packaged in a thickness of 0.0762- or 0.2032-mm film. The packaged meat was heat-treated in a water bath at 68°C for 10 to 120 s and then cooled in an ice-water bath. The survivors of Salmonella or L. innocua were enumerated. This study revealed that packaging-film thicknesses affected thermal inactivation of Salmonella and L. innocua. The results are useful for surface pasteurization of fully cooked and vacuum-packaged meat and poultry products.