Neck skin sampling of poultry carcasses

Collect samples from carcases after they have been chilled for at least 1.5 hours (either in the chiller itself or after re-hanging on the line).  To take the samples:

Wear a pair of gloves

Wipe the entire surface of the gloves with a few alcohol wipes to sanitise the surface

Take a pair of scissors and wipe the surface of the blades with an alcohol wipe

Grip the stomacher bag at the bottom seam (as shown in photograph 1A) and fold it back over your hand inside out (photographs 1B and 1C).  The idea is so that you can use the inside of the bag (which is sterile) to hold the neck flaps so they can be cut from the carcass.

Photographs 1A, 1B and 1C:  Turning a stomacher bag inside out over your hand.

Step up to the line and select a bird with a long neck skin for sampling.  It is advised to select a carcass with a neck skin of at least 4 cm (roughly 2 inches) to ensure you can cut a sample which weighs at least 10g.  Examples of some carcasses with neck skins that are appropriate for sampling are depicted by the arrows in photograph 2.

Photograph 2:  Poultry carcasses with neck skins of suitable length for sampling

Grab the neck skin through the bag and cut at least 10g (see photograph 3 below) of neck skin off with the scissors in the manner shown in photograph 4.

Photograph 3:  10g of broiler neck skin

Photograph 4:  Sampling of neck skins from poultry carcasses

Collect 2 more samples in the same way to make 3 in total inside the bag.  Then turn the bag right side out and tie it off with all 3 skins inside.  A bag containing 3 skins and a combined weight of more than 30g (roughly 1 oz) is classed as a single sample.

Sanitise your gloves and scissors after each sample using alcohol wipes.  5 samples in total need to be collected each sampling period.

If your plant has an onsite laboratory, you should keep the samples cool and deliver to your lab within 2 hours of sampling.  If you use an offsite lab, immediately put the sample into an insulated coolbox containing frozen freezer blocks or crushed ice.  Keep the samples cold (but don’t freeze them).  Keeping samples chilled at 0^oC to 4^oC will help prevent bacteria from multiplying and make sure your test accurately reflects the bacteria present on the carcass surface.  Sample testing should commence a maximum of 24 hours after sample collection.

Testing frequency and interpretation of results

For poultry meat plants, sampling must be undertaken weekly.  There are reduced frequencies based on throughput. To check the frequency that applies to your plant click here. 

For process hygiene monitoring purposes, Salmonella test results are assessed over 10 consecutive sampling sessions.  15 carcass samples per session should be collected.  These 15 neck skins should be tested by the laboratory as 5 samples; each containing the skins from three birds.  Each pooled sample should have 25g mass.  Test results for Salmonella will be assessed in batches of 50 samples taken over a 10 week period.  The 50 samples will be assessed in a rolling manner whereby after 10 weeks, the samples collected from weeks 1 to 10 will be assessed.  At week 11, the samples collected from weeks 2-11 will be assessed i.e. the test results from week 1 drop off the rolling window at week 11.

Salmonella test results are reported as either positively detected or absent.  The assessment criteria that should be used are:

More than 5 out of 50 samples with Salmonella detections from chicken, and 7 out of 50 from turkey are unacceptable

Exceeding 5 out of 50 Salmonella detections for chicken and turkey carcasses should result in appropriate and proportionate corrective actions being initiated by the plant operator.  It does not mean the carcasses are unfit for consumption if Salmonella detections are unacceptable for the tests undertaken for process hygiene monitoring purposes. From 1st January 2013 the criterion for turkey will change from 7 out of 50 to 5 out of 50

From 1st December 2011, there are also food safety criteria for fresh poultry meat (defined as breeding flocks of Gallus gallus, laying hens, broilers and breeding and fattening flocks of turkeys).  The criterion are the absence of Salmonella Typhimurium and Salmonella Enteritidis in five samples. . If salmonellas are isolated when neckskins are tested for the process hygiene criteria, serotyping of isolates should be undertaken using the White-Kaufmann-Le Minor scheme.