Sources of Salmonella colonization in poultry and pre-harvest controls have been extensively discussed in Parts 1 and 2 of this article series. Part 3 will emphasize processing controls for minimizing the prevalence and/or concentrations of Salmonella in broiler meat. Identified sources for Salmonella colonization of the broilers include: (1) poultry house external environment, (2) poultry feed, (3) hatchery, (4) chicks, (5) poultry house internal environment, (6) water, (7) bird droppings and litter.
Obviously, housing chicks in large numbers results in cross-colonization during grow-out, even if one chick or chicken is colonized. The authors previously discussed that there are no "silver bullets" to eliminate or even minimize the colonization of the chicken gut with Salmonella once the microorganism enters the chicken gut in low numbers. Thus, the processing plant is presented with chickens that have Salmonella in their gastrointestinal tracts at varying levels of prevalence and concentrations within the flock (from the same poultry house) and between the flocks (different houses on the same farm or different farms). Processing plants now have the challenge of addressing these microorganisms and developing strategies to eliminate Salmonella from the chicken's carcass.