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Today's Science Insight
Feb 15, 2011
Scientists at the University of Georgia's Center for Food Safety have published a remarkable and encouraging paper comparing the incidence of Salmonella in organic chickens compared to conventional chickens raised by the same company in the same area.
The team also analyzed the antibiotic-resistance status of 70 of the Salmonella isolates. Their findings were remarkable --
- 5.6% organic birds were infected with Salmonella
38.8% conventional birds were infected - 5% of organic feed samples were contaminated with Salmonella
27.5% of conventional feed samples contaminated - 39.7% of Salmonella isolates from conventional birds were resistant to SIX antibiotics
0% of isolates from organic chickens were resistant to these 6
The team's paper is entitled "Prevalence and Distribution of Salmonella in Organic and Conventional Broiler Poultry Farms." It appeared in the journal Foodborne Pathogens and Disease, Vol. 7, Number 11, 2010. The team was led by Dr. Walid Alali.
