Validation as a Tool of Food Safety Management in Poultry Processing

The food industry requires continuous safety improvements for raw materials and finished products. In this context, microbiological safety is a critical aspect of ensuring food safety from farm to fork. This research evaluated various antimicrobial protocols across different technological stages, as well as validated freezing and storage equipment for compliance with microbiological standards for poultry products. The study focused on a broiler chicken processing line at the Kurinoye Tsarstvo joint-stock company (a branch of the Uzlovskaya Poultry Farm, Pashkovo, Russia). The assessment methodology relied on HACCP principles and the food safety management system (FSSC 22000 v.6.0). The sampling was conducted after stunning and bleeding, defeathering, deep-tank immersion treatment in a 500 ppm peracetic acid solution, manual evisceration, and spray cabin chilling. The microbiological analysis included the determination of aerobic plate counts (QMAFAnM), Salmonella spp., and Listeria monocytogenes, alongside the validation of refrigeration equipment based on freezing time and temperature profile. The deep-tank immersion treatment significantly reduced the aerobic plate counts from 8×105 to 4×103 CFU/g. However, the manual evisceration was identified as a critical stage for secondary contamination: it increased total bacterial counts to 2.4×104 CFU/g, with the prevalence of Salmonella spp. on the carcasses reaching 100%. The freezing validation confirmed that the internal product temperature successfully reached ≤ –12 °C, with the microbiological parameters of the final frozen products remaining safely below 5.0×105 CFU/g. Although the established food safety management system proved effective overall, the findings highlight the need for stricter control during the evisceration stage. A higher concentration of peracetic acid (700 ppm) and mandatory monitoring of hand hygiene and equipment sanitation are strongly recommended.