Eect of trisodium phosphate solutions washing on the sensory evaluation of poultry meat Rosa Capita *, Carlos Alonso-Calleja, Marisa Sierra, Benito Moreno, Marõ  a del Camino Garcõ  a-Ferna ndez Department of Food Hygiene and Technology, C1/La Serna, No.56, University of Leo Ân, 24007-Leo Ân, Spain Received 7 September 1999; received in revised form 17 December 1999; accepted 19 December 1999 Abstract The eect of trisodium phosphate (TSP) solutions treatments on the sensory evaluation of poultry meat has been explored since TSP was recently approved by USDA for its usage in poultry processing to eliminate Salmonella contamination. In the present study, fresh chicken thighs were dipped in water (control sample) and in 8, 10 and 12% TSP solutions (treated samples) for 15 min. Raw samples' color, smell and overall acceptability and cooked thighs' color, smell, ¯avor, texture and overall acceptability were evaluated by consumer panelists. The evaluation of raw pieces after treatment or after 7 days storage at 2  C revealed that, with the exception of 12% TSP solutions treatment, sensory quality was not adversely aected by TSP. The color, smell and overall acceptability hedonic scores for the boiled thigh meat were not dierent between the treated samples and the control ones. Only the color, ¯avor and overall acceptability of thighs dipped in 12% TSP were rated signi®cantly lower than the control sample. These results suggested that TSP solutions have good potential as dips to sanitize chickens carcasses # 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Poultry carcasses; Decontamination; Trisodium phosphate; Sensory evaluation 1. Introduction Food safety is a primary concern of consumers, and the control of pathogens in poultry meat is critical, especially those that can exist without obvious signs of spoilage. Some pathogens that may exist in poultry meat products represent notable hazards to humans. In fact, poultry represents the single most important food source of Salmonella (Bean, Grin, Goulding & Ivey, 1990). In addition to general hygiene management practice, the microbial load of fresh meat can be reduced substancially by the application of decontaminants. Numerous disinfectants and treatments have been applied so as to reduce carcass contamination including: acids, bases, halogens, hydrogen peroxide, alcohols, mannose application, ozonation and irradiation. Although all these methods have shown some degree of bactericidal ecacy, each one oers some signi®cant disadvantage(s), such as the cost or adverse sensory changes that have prevented their usage (Bolder, 1997; Farkas, 1998; Smulders & Greer, 1998; Sofos & Smith, 1998). In 1992, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) approved the use of TSP as a processing aid to eliminate Salmonella on raw poultry carcasses (Giese, 1993). TSP is active against Gram negative bacteria, including sal- monellas, coliforms, Escherichia coli O157:H7, campy- lobacters and pseudomonads on the skin of chickens carcasses (Colin & Salvat, 1997; Federighi, Cappelier, Rossero, Coppen & Denis, 1995; Fratamico, Schultz, Benedict, Buchanan & Cole, 1996; Gorman, Sofos, Morgan, Schmidt & Smitd, 1995; RodrõÂguez de Ledesma, Riemann & Farver, 1996). It is used as a dip immediately after water-chilling or before air-chill. The use of TSP for poultry meat decontamination is not widely practised. Within the European Union (EU), meat hygiene regulations do not allow any method or product decontamination other than washing with potable water. In order that any processing decontami- nation method or agent is acceptable, the application cannot cause undesirable sensory characteristics in the poultry products. Previous works (Ellerbroek, Oko- locha & Weise, 1997; Hathcox, Hwang, ResurreccioÂn & Bouchat, 1995; Hollender, Bender, Jenkins & Blak, 0309-1740/00/$ - see front matter # 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. PII: S0309-1740(00)00002-4 Meat Science 55 (2000) 471±474 www.elsevier.com/locate/meatsci * Corresponding author. Fax: +34-87-243123. E-mail address: dhtrcg@unileon.es (R. Capita).