The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates Salmonella causes nearly 1.35 million illnesses each year in the United States. That’s equivalent to the entire population of Dallas contracting the infection. This is no joke for consumers and it’s equally concerning for food production, especially among ground turkey processors.

Currently, there are more than 2,400 Salmonella serovars — variations of the bacterium — with approximately 32 flagged as public health concerns. These 32 serovars can pose a threat to the poultry industry.

Technology curbing Salmonella.

To combat Salmonella, turkey processors are turning to bacteriophage technology to reduce harmful bacteria prevalence. Bacteriophages, also known as phages, are viruses that infect bacteria and destroy their host cell. Phages are proteins that can be either active or inactive, and they only become active in the presence of their targeted host.

When Salmonella is present in poultry, phages activate to invade and kill the harmful bacteria. The phages attach to a specific receptor on the Salmonella cell surface and replicate until the host cell wall bursts.

Multi-hurdle approach designed for poultry.

Finalyse^™ SAL is a safe, natural and biodegradable phage technology designed to target Salmonella. Because the phage only becomes active in the presence of Salmonella, it naturally degrades without the host. Finalyse SAL does not alter the taste, texture or color of ground turkey.

Used as part of a multi-hurdle, multi-technology food safety approach, Finalyse SAL is an effective intervention in reducing Salmonella in ground turkey. The ARM & HAMMER^™ food safety portfolio offers technology designed to effectively work together in tackling poultry processing issues. While Finalyse SAL is compatible with other chemicals, ARM & HAMMER’s broad-spectrum antimicrobial product, AviBrom^™, works in combination with Finalyse SAL to reduce harmful bacteria throughout each step of the processing facility.

Finalyse SAL can be applied as a dip or spray at multiple intervention points throughout poultry processing. This technology is effective against the top 20 serovars that are concerns. Finalyse SAL is a solution for plants processing ground meat that struggle with reducing Salmonella as part of their food safety program.

Study proves Finalyse SAL effective.

In a study completed by Arm & Hammer Animal and Food Production, Finalyse SAL lowered Salmonella prevalence 17.8 percent in ground turkey. Replicate batches of bone-in drums from the same flock were dipped in 500ppm peracetic acid (PAA) for 30 seconds. The control batch was only dipped in PAA while a treated batch was dipped in PAA and 10⁷pfu/mL Finalyse SAL solution for 30 seconds.

The control and treated batches were shipped to the same grinding plant and ground separately prior to Salmonella sampling.

Applying Finalyse SAL to ground turkey reduced Salmonella presence compared to a control group without the treatment.

Conclusion.

Combatting Salmonella is vital to protect the integrity of poultry products and to ensure safe food for consumption. Read more about the benefits of integrating Finalyse SAL in poultry processing.