A Survey of Raw Frozen Breaded Chicken Products for Salmonella in British Columbia, Canada, and Phylogenetically Associated Illnesses

Abstract

The incidence of Salmonella enterica infection resulting from consumption of chicken products has historically been elevated in British Columbia compared with the rest of Canada. Raw frozen breaded chicken products are often implicated as the source of infection as there is a potential for consumers to not cook these products adequately. This occurs because the production process for these foods involves par-frying, a step which lends a cooked appearance to the product surface without reaching the internal temperatures required to fully inactivate potential pathogens. A survey of frozen chicken products from 10 retail stores of various sizes was conducted in order to determine the type and source of frozen chicken products that are available for purchase in British Columbia. Information on 391 individual products was collected and 50 were sampled for microbiological testing. Raw frozen breaded chicken products represented 59% of the frozen chicken products available to consumers at retail; 34% of these raw products were made by a single processor. The same processor was also found to have the highest proportion (33%) of samples testing positive for Salmonella. Whole genome sequencing of isolates obtained during this study revealed that majority of these isolates were phylogenetically related to clinical isolates of Salmonella. A substantial reduction of risk and increased consumer protection may be achieved by implementing a kill step (e.g., cook process that has been validated to achieve a 7-log reduction) during production of these products.