Predictive models for the survival of campylobacter jejuni inoculated in chicken meat

Abstract

Campylobacter jejuni is an emerging pathogen that is becoming more relevant due to the high percentage of isolations found in raw or undercooked poultry products. The objective of the present work was to analyze and to model mathematically the effect of storage temperature , potassium sorbate concentration (0, 500 and 1,000 ppm) and packaging in plastic films of different gas permeabilities (low and high gas permeability, polyethylene and EVA SARAN EVA) on the survival of C. jejuni.C. jejuni inoculated into chicken meat. Different models (linear, Gompertz and Weibull equation) were applied to experimental data, obtaining the best fit with the Weibull model. Among analyzed factors, storage temperature in chicken meat that reduce microbial counts between 3 and 4 logarithmic cycles. However, at 4ºC, the inhibitory effect was more successful. Potassium sorbate and packaging in different permeability films did not show inhibitory effect on C. jejuni.