Effect of sanitizers and Lactobacillus rhamnosus R23 on the growth of Salmonella spp. in raw chicken fillets during temperature abuse storage

One of the food products commonly contaminated by Salmonella is raw chicken. In wet markets in Southeast Asian countries, chicken carcasses frequently were handled and sold at abused temperatures, above the refrigeration temperatures (>5°C), thus could support the growth of Salmonella. One way to extend the shelf life of raw chicken carcasses at room temperature is by reducing the initial contamination using sanitisers such as ozone micro-bubble water (OMBW) or hypochlorite (NaOCl) solution. The other option is by adding bio-preservative agents such as lactic acid bacteria. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of sanitisers in reducing the initial contamination and the potential of lactic acid bacteria in inhibiting the growth of Salmonella in raw chicken fillets stored at abused temperatures. Chicken fillets were artificially inoculated with Salmonella (~5 log CFU/g) and rinsed for 5 minutes with sterile water, OMBW (1 and 2 ppm), or NaOCl solution (50 and 100 ppm). The results showed that washing the chicken fillets with NaOCl 100 ppm gave the most reduction of Salmonella counts. However, there were no significant effects regarding the inhibition of Salmonella growth during temperature abuse between those previously washed with OMBW or sterile water. The addition of L. rhamnosus R23 (6 log CFU/g and 8 log CFU/g) did not significantly inhibit the growth of Salmonella as compared to the control.