Comparison between rinse and crush-and-rub sampling for aerobic bacteria recovery from broiler hatching eggs after sanitization

• Published in: Poultry science 2011-07, Vol.90 (7), p.1609-1615
• Main Authors: Spickler, J.L, Buhr, R.J, Cox, N.A, Bourassa, D.V, Rigsby, L.L
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aerobic bacteria; Ammonium; Animals; bacteria; Bacteria, Aerobic - isolation & purification; Bacterial Infections - prevention & control; Centrifuges; Chickens - microbiology; Colony Count, Microbial - veterinary; Colony-forming cells; Disinfection - methods; drying; egg shell; Egg shells; Eggs; Eggs - microbiology; Female; Food Handling - methods; Hatching; Hydrogen peroxide; phenol; Phenols; Plastics; Poultry; Sampling; Sanitizers; Statistics, Nonparametric
• ISSN: 0032-5791; 1525-3171
• DOI: 10.3382/ps.2010-01305

This study compared surface and deep eggshell aerobic bacteria recovered by the rinse and crush-and-rub sampling methods for commercial hatching eggs after treatment with sanitizers. Eggs were arranged into 5 treatments consisting of no treatment, water, and 3 sanitizers. The sanitizers were H₂O₂, phenol, and Q₄B (a compound chemical containing 4 quaternary ammoniums and 1 biguanide moiety). Eggs were sprayed according to treatment and allowed to dry for 1 h before sampling. To collect samples for the eggshell rinse, each egg was massaged in a plastic bag with 20 mL of saline. Eggshells were then aseptically opened and their contents were discarded before being individually crushed into 50-mL centrifuge tubes containing 20 mL of saline. Aerobic bacteria were enumerated on Petrifilm after 48 h of incubation at 37°C. Aerobic bacteria recovered (log₁₀ cfu/mL) from the eggshell rinse were highest and similar for the no-treatment (4.0) and water (3.7) groups, lower for the phenol (3.2) and H₂O₂ (3.1) groups, and lowest for the Q₄B (2.4) group. Aerobic bacteria levels with the crush-and-rub method were similar for the no-treatment (2.5) and water (2.3) groups, lower for the phenol (1.6) group, intermediate for the H₂O₂ (1.2) group, and lowest for the Q₄B (0.9) group. The overall correlation between the rinse and crush-and-rub sampling methods for individual egg aerobic bacteria counts was r = 0.71. The correlation within each treatment revealed the following r values: no treatment, 0.55; water, 0.72; H₂O₂, 0.67; phenol, 0.73; and Q₄B, 0.38. A second experiment was designed to further examine the lower aerobic bacterial levels recovered by the crush-and-rub method (for previously rinsed eggs) than the levels recovered in the initial eggshell rinse sample. Eggs were either rinsed and then crushed and rubbed, or they were only crushed and rubbed without a prior rinse. Results confirmed a significant decrease (1.5 log₁₀ cfu/mL) in bacteria levels between the initial rinse (4.4) and the subsequent crush and rub (2.9) for the same eggshell. For the crush-and-rub eggs with no previous rinsing, the bacteria recovery level (3.9) was not significantly different from levels for the rinse method. Therefore, either the rinse or crush-and-rub sampling methods can be used to recover similar levels of eggshell aerobic bacteria.