## 1 Introduction  
Reports of food poisoning caused by ready-to-eat (RTE) meat products have increased with the increasing demand for RTE meat products [1, 2]. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 290 cases of food poisoning due to ingesting chicken meat products were reported in 2019--of which, 105 cases and two deaths were caused by _Salmonella_ poisoning. Furthermore, chicken meat products were associated with 24 cases of Norovirus food poisoning during the period of 2013-2017 [3].  
Recent studies have proactively investigated the efficacy of cold plasma treatment as an in-package microbial disinfection method that prevents post-process contamination [1; 4; 5; 6; 7; 8]. Among the various methods used to generate cold plasma, atmospheric dielectric barrier discharge (ADCP) has attracted the attention of the food industry, as it allows the formation of cold plasma inside plastic packages, making cold plasma treatment an in-package treatment [7; 9; 10]. Cold plasma comprises electrons and ultraviolet photons generated in plasma, as well as reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS), such as single oxygen(\({}^{1}\)O\({}_{2}\)), superoxide anion (O\({}_{2}\)**-**), hydroxyl (HO\({}_{2}\)**-**), hydroxyl radical (**\({}^{\bullet}\)**OH), hydrogen peroxide (H\({}_{2}\)O\({}_{2}\)), ozone (O\({}_{3}\)), alkoxyl (RO\({}^{\bullet}\)), peroxyl (ROO\({}^{\bullet}\)), peroxyntirte (ONOO\({}^{-}\)), nitric oxide (NO\({}^{\bullet}\)), nitrogen dioxide radical (\({}^{\bullet}\)NO\({}_{2}\)), alkylperoxynnitrite (ROONO) and peroxynitrous acid (OONOH) [11]. These can destroy chemical bonds in the microbial cell membrane by collision, which erodes the cell membrane through etching [10]. These can also enter the cells to react with proteins, lipids, and DNA, thereby non-thermally inactivating the microorganism [5; 6; 10; 12].  
Nevertheless, reactive species that are produced upon cold plasma treatment may influence the chemical properties of food products. This should be investigated prior to the application of cold plasma technologies in the food industry [13]. [PERSON] et al. reported that the application of a cold argon plasma jet to V79 cells for 3 min did not increase genotoxicity [14]. [PERSON] et al. reported that acute and subacute toxicity tests using defatted soybean meal-based biopolymer film following microwave cold plasma treatment verified the safety of the treatment [13]. Despite such reports, further studies may be warranted to positively confirm that ADCP treatment of food products does not generate harmful by-products.  
[PERSON] et al. [1] subjected fresh chicken breast samples to ADCP treatment (at 100 kV, 5 min), and reported that indigenous mesophiles and _Enterobacteriaceae_ in the fresh chicken breast were inactivated by 1.5 log CFU/g, while shelf-life was increased by six more days [1]. Furthermore, [PERSON] et al. showed that microbial populations in raw chicken fillets treated with ADCP (80 kV for 3, 6, or 9 min) were reduced by approximately 1-1.5 log CFU/g after the samples were stored at 4 \({}^{\circ}\)C for 3 d [15]. Most such studies, however, focused on fresh poultry meat. Studies regarding the effect of cold plasma treatment on RTE-type processed poultry meat and quality-related properties during storage are lacking.  
In this study, we have determined ADCP treatment conditions based on its efficacy in inactivating _Salmonella_ in boiled chicken breast cubes (CBCs), investigated the effect of ADCP treatment on the inactivation of Tulane virus (TV), a surrogate of human norovirus, and the concentrations of nitrate and nitrite, determined toxicological safety of ADCP-treated CBCs, and verified the effect of ADCP treatment on the storage stability of CBCs by studying the growth of _Salmonella_ and natural mesophilic bacteria, as well as pH, color, total volatile basic nitrogen (TVBN), thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), tenderness and sensory properties of CBCs during storage at 4 and 24 \({}^{\circ}\)C.