Scientists from the DTU National Food Institute and DTU's Department of Chemical Engineering will work with a Danish chicken producer, Danpo, and Icelandic company Thor Ice Chilling Solutions to develop and test ways of producing chicken meat that contains less Campylobacter.
The “SafeChicken project” will test different methods of reducing Campylobacter in the food chain in the production of both organic and conventional broiler chickens. The researchers will attempt to achieve this through several means:
- Adding selected substances to chicken feed and water, which have the potential to prevent the growth of Campylobacter bacteria in the chickens
- Reducing the prevalence of the bacteria in the environment with a new decontamination technology
- Reducing bacteria on the carcasses by using a special cooling technology.
A few of these methods have already been tested and are showing promising results, albeit on a small scale under controlled conditions. The researchers will also investigate and document the methods' effectiveness under normal production conditions to ensure that they are applicable in practice. Each measure will be assessed as to the extent to which it can help lower the risk of consumers becoming infected and sick from Campylobacter.
The Danish Ministry of Food, Agriculture, and Fisheries, as part of the Green Development and Demonstration Program, has allocated DKK 7.4 million for the three-year project.
