Bacterial contamination of raw processed poultry continues to be of concern to consumers as well as regulatory and health officials. For many years wings were considered a low-value product; therefore, shelf life of wings was not a major concern. Due to changes in consumer attitudes and increases in the fast-food market, wings are now a valuable commodity. Because wings have a shorter shelf life than most other raw poultry products, acceptable intervention to decrease the population of associated spoilage organisms and human enteropathogens are needed. Safe(2)O Poultry Wash was evaluated as a postchill treatment to reduce microbial contamination and increase shelf life. Ninety-six carcasses were obtained from a local processor prior to final wash. On arrival at the research facility all carcasses were inoculated with 1 mL of a culture with 10(3) cfu/mL Listeria monocytogenes. After a 30-min attachment time, carcasses were subjected to a 4-s in-out final wash, hung for 3 min, and chilled in ice-water for 45 min. After the chilling, wings were removed by hand with a knife, pooled together, and subjected to a hand spray (4 mL/wing) with deionized water or Safe(2)O Poultry Wash. Two wings were then placed in each of 96 ziplock type storage bags, and wings were held at 5 +/- 1 degreesC for 3, 7, 10, and 14 d. On the day of sample, weep was decanted, and 100 mL of Butterfield's phosphate buffer was added to each bag. Three sets of wings were shaken by hand for 1 min, and total aerobes, Pseudomonads, Staphylococcus sp., psychrotrophic bacteria, and L. monocytogenes in the rinsates were enumerated. By using 7 log(10) recovery of total aerobes from rinsates as a spoilage baseline, all wings were spoiled by d 10, but the wings treated with water were approaching spoilage counts on d 7, (log(10) 6.8), whereas only log(10) 5.5 bacteria were recovered from the wings sprayed with Safe(2)O Poultry Wash. Fewer Pseudomonads, Staphylcoccus sp., L. monocytogenes, and psychrotrophic bacteria were recovered from wings treated with Safe(2)O Poultry Wash and stored for 10 d. Log(10) counts for the organisms were Pseudomonas sp., 8.2 and 6.9; Staphylcoccus sp., 5.5 and 4.9; L. monocytogenes, 5.2 and 4.6; and psychrotrophs, 8.2 and 6.9 for the water and Safe(2)O Poultry Wash treatments, respectively. Use of the Safe(2)O Poultry Wash as a postchill treatment on wings could increase the shelf life of wings by up to 3 d.
