Survival of Large Populations of Listeria monocytogenes on Chicken Breasts Processed Using Moist Heat

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Abstract
The ability of Listeria monocytogenes to survive and proliferate on chicken processed using a moist heating method was investigated. Chicken breasts were inoculated with 106–107 microorganisms/g, cooked to one of five different cooking temperatures, then either vacuum packaged or wrapped in an oxygen permeable film and stored at 4°C for up to 4 weeks or at 10°C for up to 10 d. Lethality was directly related to the cooking temperatures employed in this study, however survivors were encountered at each of the heat treatments employed. By the fourth week of storage at 4°C, the L. monocytogenes population in all of the samples, except those cooked to 82.2°C increased significantly. In contrast, within the first week of storage at 4°C the population increased in only three samples (73.9°C film overwrap, 65.6°C and 71.1°C vacuum packaged). Storage at 10°C allowed microbial populations in 6 of the 10 treatments to significantly increase within 3 d, with the remaining 4 significantly increasing within 10 d. Differences in packaging influenced the growth rate of L. monocytogenes at both storage temperatures.