Study Suggests Less Salmonella in Organic Chicken

Based on 300 samples taken from organically raised chickens and 400 samples taken from conventionally raised chickens from a single North Carolina poultry company, scientists found that the overall prevalence of Salmonella among organic broiler farms was 4.3% compared to 28.8% in conventional broiler farms. Further, multidrug resistance more frequently occurred in Salmonella strains taken from conventional broiler farms (55.2%) versus those from organic farms (41.6%). Specifically, 36% of conventional and one-quarter of organic Salmonella samples were resistant to streptomycin, while none of the organic samples and 39.7% of conventional samples were resistant to multiple antimicrobial drugs.