Cutting boards can serve as potential carriers for the cross-contamination of pathogens from chicken to other surfaces. This study aimed to assess chefs’ handling practices of cutting boards across five provinces in China and identify the key factors contributing to unsafe cutting board usage, including cleaning methods and handling practices. Handling practices associated with cutting boards were examined through a web-based survey (N = 154), while kitchen environment tests were conducted to investigate the splashing or survival of Campylobacter, inoculated in chicken or on cutting boards, to mimic the practices of chefs. Among chefs in the five provinces of China, wood and plastic cutting boards were the most commonly used for preparing chicken meat. Approximately 33.7% of chefs washed boards with running tap water, 31.17% of chefs washed boards with detergent, and 24.03% of chefs cleaned boards by scraping them with a knife after preparing other meats or chicken. The study tested 23 cutting boards from commercial kitchens for Campylobacter presence before and after chicken preparation and cleaning. Among these, 17 were cleaned with a knife, 5 with running tap water, and only 1 with disinfectant. Results showed that cleaning with a knife significantly reduced Campylobacter presence on cutting boards (p < 0.05), while the three main cleaning methods were inadequate in eliminating contamination to a safe level. In kitchen environment tests, contaminated chicken was chopped on cutting boards, with a maximum distance of 60 cm for low contamination, and 120 cm for medium and high contamination levels. This suggested a contamination risk exposure area ranging from 60 cm to 120 cm. Campylobacter survival on surfaces of wood, plastic, and stainless steel was also tested, with plastic surfaces showing the longest survival time (4.5 h at 15 °C and 3.5 h at 25 °C) In comparison, survival time on stainless steel or wood surfaces was only 3 h, implying a cross-contamination risk exposure period of 3 to 4.5 h after chicken preparation. In conclusion, based on the current study data, the practices employed by chefs play an important role in Campylobacter transfer in the kitchen environment. The presence of Campylobacter on cutting boards even after wiping or droplet splashing highlights its potential as a source of cross-contamination in the kitchen environment. So, chefs in China should reinforce their hygiene culture and adopt effective cutting board cleaning practices to prevent pathogen contamination.

Campylobacteriosis is the most common cause of bacterial gastroenteritis worldwide. Consumption of chicken meat is considered the main route for human infection with Campylobacter. This study aimed to determine the critical factors for Campylobacter cross-contamination in Chinese commercial kitchens during chicken handling. Five commercial kitchens were visited to detect Campylobacter occurrence from 2019 to 2020. Chicken samples (n = 363) and cotton balls from the kitchen surfaces (n = 479) were collected, and total bacterial counts and Campylobacter spp. were detected. Genotypic characterization of 57 Campylobacter jejuni isolates was performed by multilocus sequence typing (MLST). In total, 77.41% of chicken carcass samples and 37.37% of kitchen surfaces showed Campylobacter spp. contamination. Before chicken preparation, Campylobacter spp. were already present in the kitchen environment; however, chicken handling significantly increased Campylobacter spp. prevalence (p < 0.05). After cleaning, boards, hands, and knives still showed high bacterial loads including Campylobacter spp., which related to poor sanitary conditions and ineffective handling practices. Poor sanitation conditions on kitchen surfaces offer greater opportunities for Campylobacter transmission. Molecular typing by MLST revealed that Campylobacter cross-contamination occurred during chicken preparation. The most prevalent sequence types, ST693 and ST45, showed strong biofilm formation ability. Consequently, sanitary condition of surfaces and biofilm formation ability of isolates were the critical points contributing to spread of Campylobacter in kitchen environment. These results provide insight into potential targeted control strategies along the farm-to-plate chain and highlight the necessity for improvements in sanitary conditions. The implementation of more effective cleaning measures should be considered to decrease the campylobacteriosis risk.

Ready-to-eat (RTE) meat products processed under mild or low-temperature conditions are particularly susceptible to microbial contamination. In this study, culture-based methods combined with 16S rRNA gene sequencing were applied to investigate microbial contamination dynamics and identify hygiene risk points throughout the production of Yao meat in a central kitchen in eastern China. The highest microbial loads were observed during the thawing stage, with total viable counts reaching 6.08 ± 0.30 log ₁₀ CFU/cm ² and coliform counts of 3.35 ± 0.57 log ₁₀ CFU/cm ² . Although cooking significantly reduced microbial levels, a marked increase during the packaging stage indicated post-processing contamination associated with inadequate hygiene control. High relative abundances of potentially spoilage indicator taxa, including Chryseobacterium , Campylobacter , and Pseudomonas , were detected during the kneading stage, suggesting their contribution to downstream contamination. Source tracking analysis revealed that approximately 78.32% of the microbial community in the final product originated from the thawing and kneading stages. In contrast, Bacillus spp. dominated the end product without a clearly identifiable source, indicating the presence of uncharacterized contamination routes. Overall, these results identify critical hygiene risk points during Yao meat production and provide insights into microbial contamination patterns in traditional RTE meat products.

In view of the preservation of fresh chicken focusing on broiler, with the lack of material on san-huang chicken. used the 84 disinfectant whose concentration was 1:86 wash the killed san-huang chicken for 1 min, dropped the core temperature to 4°C in 30 min and did acid treatment for 24h, then immersed in the concentration of 0.3g/L tea polyphenols+0.2g/L D-sodium erythroblast composite solution for 5 min, drained and vacuum packed, treated with the radiation source of 60Co as a 4kGy dose, and preserved in 4°C.The result showed, at the end of preservation CFU increased from 3.8×103 to 8.7×105CFU/g, epiphytic bacteria were Pseudomonas and Enterobacteriaceae, TVB-N increased from 8.24mg/100g to 14.8mg/100g, POV increased from 3.6meq/kg to 7.8meq/kg; texture profile analysis resulted that with no change of adhesion, cohesion, the hardness, elasticity and chewiness of Chicken decline, chromatic detection resulted that L value and a value increase but b value decline, the quality of fresh chicken met the national food safety standards. As a result, after comprehensive radiation treatment, the shelf life of fresh chicken was 28d.