this is a great question. i'm glad you asked! in general salmonella has been found to survive as long as 4 weeks (and possibly longer) on various surfaces. we know this because a team from clemson university once tested the "5-second rule" of dropped food on the floor. they found that food dropped on the floor can be contaminated with salmonella almost immediately upon contact. so you're wise to be concerned with salmonella contamination from surfaces particularly the car seat because salmonella seems to like porous surfaces. however bleach is an effective disinfectant against salmonella. chlorine bleach will kill salmonella pretty much instantly. so as long as you've cleaned everything with bleach you probably don't have any residual salmonella contamination on the surfaces your turkey contacted. in terms of frozen turkey transferring salmonella it may be possible. freezing doesn't kill necessarily kill salmonella. bacteria that survive freezing may ramp up reproduction when they thaw out. so you were right to take precautions against cross-contamination even though the turkey was frozen. it sounds like you did everything right! however i would advise you to bleach that cloth car seat. it might ruin the coloration of the fabric i know but because salmonella has been shown to thrive in nylon carpet fibers it would be good to decontaminate that car seat for the safety of your little one. hope this helps!
how long does bacteria such as salmonella stay contagious on non food and water surfaces such as cloth car seats? . i purchased a frozen turkey and did not realize the package was torn until i removed it from the bag once at home. i used a bleach solution to clean the hard surfaces (door handles etc) but just needed some additional information on specifics of the possibility if bacteria was on the frozen turkey does that transfer to hands etc. while it is in a frozen state and if so how long does the bacteria stay "contagious". am concerned about other non hard surfaces such as cloth seats in car.