Consumer food preparation and its implication for survival of Campylobacter jejuni on chicken

Abstract

Purpose

The disease burden caused by Campylobacter jejuni may be decreased by reduced consumption of undercooked chicken meat. However, little is known about consumer preparation of poultry and the effects of commonly applied cooking times on bacterial inactivation. This study aimed to answer these questions.

Design/methodology/approach

Surveys were mailed in The Netherlands and analysed and laboratory inactivation experiments were conducted for the most frequent preparation method.

Findings

The surveys revealed that the predominant way of chicken meat cooking was (stir)frying fillets and that consumers were generally aware of the presence of bacteria on chicken meat. Thorough heating of meat was considered important, which was often checked by visual inspection. In the laboratory, D‐values for C. jejuni were obtained at frying temperatures: D was 1.95 min for artificially contaminated whole and D 0.59 min for diced fillets, respectively under practically relevant conditions. Large variability in survival was found, however.

Originality/value

The paper shows that by combining consumer research and food microbiology it was concluded that the actual risk of consumption of chicken breast fillets that contain surviving C. jejuni is higher than previously assumed.

Citation

Bergsma, N.J., Fischer, A.R.H., Van Asselt, E.D., Zwietering, M.H. and De Jong, A.E.I. (2007), "Consumer food preparation and its implication for survival of Campylobacter jejuni on chicken", British Food Journal, Vol. 109 No. 7, pp. 548-561. https://doi.org/10.1108/00070700710761536