Evaluation of Ozonated Water as a Potential Intervention to Reduce Salmonella and Indicator Organisms on Raw Chicken Wing Sections.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of ozonated water to reduce Salmonella and aerobic plate counts (APCs) on raw chicken wing sections. Samples were inoculated with a cocktail of five poultry-borne Salmonella strains (mean 6.3 ± 0.3 log₁₀ CFU/ml rinsate). The chicken wing sections (51.3 ± 12.4 g) were treated with ozonated water at three concentrations (2.5, 5.0, and 10.0 ppm) and three exposure times (15, 30, and 45 s) by either immersion or direct application (directly from a hose). Tap water was used as control, and the experiments were performed in triplicate with three wings per treatment. Salmonella reductions with ozonated water ranged from 0.3 ± 0.1 to 0.7 ± 0.1 log™ CFU/ml rinsate. APC reductions with ozonated water ranged from 0.3 ± 0.1 to 1.8 ± 0.7 log₁₀ CFU/ml rinsate. Reductions were numerically higher, although not significantly, with ozonated water than with tap water. Ozone concentration had a significant effect (P = 0.003) on Salmonella reductions in immersion treatment. Although Salmonella reductions on chicken wing sections were considered marginal, future work should focus on evaluating longer exposure times and ozone concentrations on the microbiological quality of raw chicken parts, possibly as part of a multihurdle antimicrobial approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]