INTRODUCTION
STAPHYLOCOCCAL food poisoning is presently considered to be the most common type of food-borne disease in this country (Dauer,
1961; Lewis, 1964). The latest summary of food and water-borne disease outbreaks, compiled by the U.S.P.H. Service (1963)
for the year 1961, lists staphylococcal food poisoning first, with 46 outbreaks and 1,503 cases, followed by salmonellosis,
with 20
... [Show full abstract] outbreaks and 750 cases. Dack (1962) reported that for the years 1956-1961, poultry meat was the third-most-frequent
food (after meat and bakery products) implicated in food-poisoning outbreaks. There is no report available showing to what
degree poultry carcasses harbor potentially pathogenic staphylococci immediately after slaughter and before any contamination
from the environment. Gunderson et al. (1954) studied the bacteriology of commercial poultry processing by taking surface samples during the different steps of
processing, but did not report the types and numbers of microorganisms found in tissues or inside the carcass before evisceration.
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