Microbiological Criteria for Poultry Products

Abstract

Over the last 30 years, there has been an increasing output of poultry meat and poultry-meat products, and both national and international trade in poultry meat have increased. Thus, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations (1986) reported that in 1985 1.55 million tonnes of poultry were exported, mainly from industrialised countries. This international trade is predominantly in frozen meat. The last 10 years have shown an increasing trend towards poultry-meat products, either semi-coooked or ready-to-eat, for consumption in the home or in a food service establishment. Since poultry meat is often implicated in food-poisoning episodes, due to contamination of the raw material and subsequent mishandling, especially in homes and food service establishments, legislative bodies in a number of countries and international organisations have expressed much concern and have proposed or implemented microbiological criteria for poultry meat or poultry-meat products. In the following, the pros and cons of such criteria will be discussed, together with suggestions for alternative strategies to help prevent the occurrence of food-borne disease from the consumption of poultry meat.