The benefits of whole grains to human health are well-documented but the effects in poultry is an emerging area of research.
One of the most dangerous issues in poultry is infection from Campylobacter jejuni bacteria. The bacteria is the most common cause of bacterial diarrhoea in western
countries.
The bacteria are found in the chicken intestine
and can be transferred to the meat during slaughtering. It does not make
the chicken's health worse, but it represents a potential risk to public health, since the
bacteria survives well in non-processed poultry products.
Researchers into food safety at Nofima, Norway have now investigated whether feed could make chickens more resistant to C. jejuni.
More coarsely ground feed, the addition of certain organic acids and
feeding at certain specified times all appear to reduce the risk of
infection.
"Once C. jejuni comes into a chicken house, it spreads to
the entire flock in a matter of days. Strict hygiene barriers in the
traffic of people and equipment are an important tool, but we also need
strategies for reducing or eliminating the bacteria from the chickens
once they have been infected," says Research Scientist Birgitte Moen at
the food research institute Nofima.
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| Scanning electron micrograph depicting a number of Campylobacter jejuni bacteria (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
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