Seyedeh Ommolbanin Ghasemian - Department of Veterinary, Behbahan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Behbahan, Iran
Abbas Fardaei - Department of Veterinary, Behbahan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Behbahan, Iran
Ehsan Gharib Mombeni - Department of Veterinary, Shoushtar Branch, Islamic Azad University, Shoushtar, Iran.

Pathogenic bacteria are the cause of many human food poisonings during the consumption of contaminated poultry products. This study was conducted to investigate the difference in the microbial load of poultry carcasses slaughtered at different temperatures in water chillers in the slaughterhouses of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad provinces, Iran. One hundred twenty samples were taken randomly, under sterile conditions from chillers with temperatures of ۲۴, ۱۰, and ۴ °C. The total count of microorganisms and bacterial isolation was done according to the national standard of Iran. The results showed that ۳.۳% of the samples were above the permissible limit in terms of the number of microorganisms, and all the positive samples belonged to chillers with a temperature of ۲۴ °C. Furthermore, ۲۸.۳% of the samples were positive for contamination with E. coli and the highest contamination belonged to the first chiller (۲۴ °C). In addition, ۱۶.۲% of the samples were reported to be positive for Salmonella spp. This study showed that the cooling steps significantly (p < ۰.۰۵) decreased the number of microorganisms, E. coli and Salmonella spp. E. coli and Salmonella bacteria could be isolated from the studied poultry carcasses at all stages. Although the microbial load of carcasses decreases after cooling in chillers, due to cross-contamination with some bacteria, such as E. coli and Salmonella spp., there is a need to comply with health standards to modify the slaughter process and use other kinds of chillers that are not less carcasses combination such as air chillers instead of water chillers. Besides, as the Salmonella spp. Sources are mainly from the intestinal should special attention be paid to the discharge of internal organs during the slaughtering process and the reduction of Salmonella spp. Contamination during the breeding period in broiler farms.

Water chillers, Escherichia coli, Salmonella, Meat