The inoculated poultry legs were divided into three groups, each containing 30 legs. Samples of each group were dipped for 5 min into sterile distilled water (control) (group one), 1% (v/v) (group 2) or 2% (group 3) propionic acid (Scharlab, Barcelona, Spain). After these treatments, the legs were removed and drained for 5 min and stored individually in sterile bags at 4 C for 8 days.