Local Farmers Market Chickens May Have More Harmful Bacteria

Do you like to go to your local farmers market? You may want to double check any chickens that you buy. Scientists have discovered that raw, whole chickens purchased from farmers markets throughout Pennsylvania contained significantly higher levels of bacteria that can cause foodborne illness compared to those purchased from grocery stores in the region.

In order to examine the state of chickens at farmers markets, the researchers purchased 100 whole chickens and then tested them for bacteria. They then purchased chickens from grocery stores in the region and also tested them for bacteria, comparing the two different types. It turned out that 90 percent of the farmers market chickens tested positive for Campylobacter and 28 percent harbored Salmonella. That's a huge contrast to the grocery store chickens, only 20 of which tested positive for Campylobacter.

"Some people believe that local food is safer, but we want to caution that's not always the case," said Catherine Cutter, professor and food safety extension specialist at the Department of Food Science, in a news release. "We hope this small study will lead to more extensive research to determine why we are seeing the levels of pathogens in these products and to find ways to mitigate them."

While these bacteria can be harmful in uncooked meat, they are easily killed through the cooking process. Even so, the fact that they're present in such quantities on the farmers market chickens made the researchers wonder exactly why there was such a big difference.

So what was the cause for the increased bacteria? That's a good question, and the scientists involved in the study wanted to know the answer. They ended up developing a survey for poultry vendors, asking questions that were focused on processing methods as well as work safety practices. It turned out that many of the vendors may not be incorporating antimicrobial interventions during processing, which could explain the increased bacteria.

"In the last decade, farmers markets have become an increasingly important source of food products for millions of Americans," said Joshua Scheinberg, one of the researchers, in a news release. "The popularity of farmers markets is no doubt a result of consumer demand for locally produced foods. As patronage continues to increase at farmers markets and other direct-to-consumer marketing channels, the risks associated with purchasing fresh products directly from the farmer or vendor must be evaluated."

Currently, the researchers are developing educational materials and food safety training for farmers and vendors. The new effort could help keep farmers markets a safe and local way to purchase healthy food.

"We are not doing the research to scare consumers or put people out of business; we're here to improve public health," noted Cutter.

The findings can be found online here.