Mild heat and freezing to lessen bacterial numbers on chicken liver.

Foodborne campylobacteriosis has been traced to undercooked chicken liver. We have detected Campylobacter in raw chicken livers from retail and processing plant samples. In the current study, we tested a 1 or 5 min 60(C heat treatment, a 48 h 225(C freeze treatment, and a combination of both as a means to pasteurize raw chicken liver lobes. We cultured treated and untreated liver lobes to determine numbers of Campylobacter and total aerobic bacteria. Overall, the 1 min heat treatment was ineffective. The 5 min heat treatment significantly lowered Campylobacter numbers. Freezing was also moderately effective. The combination of both heating and freezing resulted in nearly 99% decrease in Campylobacter numbers but was accompanied by significant lightening of the liver tissue. A mild heat treatment with or without subsequent freezing will not assure elimination of Campylobacter but may lessen consumer risk because of exposure in kitchen and during meal preparation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]