Bacteriophage application on red meats and poultry: Effects on Salmonella population in final ground products

This research was conducted to study the effects of bacteriophage application during tumbling on Salmonella populations in ground meat and poultry. Red meat trim and poultry were inoculated with a Salmonella cocktail to result in a contamination level of 7 log CFU/g in ground products. A commercial preparation containing bacteriophages S16 and Felix-O1a (FO1a) was applied during tumbling at 107 and 108 PFU/ml. Samples were held at 4 °C for 6 h and 18 h (red meat) and 30 min and 6 h (poultry). Overall, bacteriophage application on trim reduced 1 and 0.8 log CFU/g of Salmonella in ground beef and ground pork, respectively. For ground chicken and ground turkey, Salmonella was reduced by 1.1 and 0.9 log CFU/g, respectively. This study shows that bacteriophage application during tumbling of red meat trim and poultry can provide additional Salmonella control in ground products.