Purpose

To determine the most cost effective solution mix of peroxyacetic acid or lactic acid with water and phosphoric acid buffers (PBS) that will contribute to reduction of pathogens on quail carcasses.

Summary

The study used spray equipment which can be pumped up to 20-30 psi. The study found that a hand held sprayer with a fan nozzle to apply the acid spray solution is very easy and gives high mobility for the operator to apply covering complete carcasses. Three trials using 2% lactic acid on quail carcasses pre- and post-chill resulted in a reduction of 2.0 to 2.5 log10 in aerobic plate count and 1.4 to 2.4 log10 reduction in E. coli, 10 CFU/ml. post-chill results. The lactic acid spray further reduced the counts by .05 to 1.3 log10 for aerobic plate count and E. coli CFU/ml over the control samples. Lactic acid has several advantages over peroxyacetic acid. It has a greater residual effect than peroxyacetic acid or cold water wash alone, gave better results, and is easier to handle and store. Peroxyacetic acid was not as effective as lactic acid in reducing the number of Salmonella positives.

Benefits

Quail is not an amenable species. However, the results of this study show that small and very small plants that slaughter amenable poultry species can effectively adopt this simple and low cost technology to reduce pathogens on the carcasses of the birds that they slaughter.

When small and very small plants use either peroxyacetic acid or lactic acid for pathogen reduction on quail carcasses, it is economically beneficial to the small and very small plants if they know the most effective percentage of the organic acid to mix with water for pathogen reduction. This research should decrease their operating cost while helping them to ensure food safety and public health protection.