Editor’s note: This opinion column differs from the opinion presented by guest columnist Brian Ronholm in “How to Avoid Confusion with Poultry Slaughter Line Speed”.
Poultry slaughter does not comply with HACCP 101 requirements. The main hazards of raw poultry are Salmonella and Campylobacter pathogens. These hazards were not detected during FSIS visible bird checks. The visible diseases that FSIS inspectors can detect are based on the 19th and 20th century paradigm that visible diseases pose a risk to public health. Forty years of CDC data refute this.
As far as fecal contamination is concerned, in consumer kitchens it is not undercooked poultry, but cross-contamination. Here is an overview: Luber, Petra. 2009. Cross-Contamination and Undercooked Poultry or Eggs—Which Risks to Eliminate First? internationality. J. Food microbiology. 134:21-28. This comment is supported by other articles that demonstrate the incompetence of ordinary consumers.
In addition, most fecal contaminants are invisible. When the epilator removes the feathers, the fingers squeeze the carcass, pulling the feces out of the cloaca. The fingers then press some feces into the empty feather follicles, invisible to the inspector.
An Agricultural Research Service (ARS) paper supporting the washing of visible feces from chicken carcasses has shown that invisible feces contaminate the carcasses (Blankenship, LC et al. 1993. Broiler Carcasses Reprocessing, Additional Evaluation. J. Food Prot. 56: 983). -985.).
In the early 1990s, I proposed an ARS research project using chemical indicators such as faecal stanols to detect invisible faecal contamination on beef carcasses. Coprostanols are used as biomarkers in human faeces in the environment. An ARS microbiologist noted that testing could disrupt the poultry industry.
I answered yes, so I focused on beef. Jim Kemp later developed a method for detecting grass metabolites in cow feces.
These invisible faeces and bacteria are why ARS and others have been pointing out for more than three decades that pathogens entering slaughterhouses can be found on food. Here is a recent article: Berghaus, Roy D. et al. Number of Salmonella and Campylobacter in 2013. Samples of organic farms and washings of industrial broiler carcasses at processing plants. application. Wednesday. Microl., 79: 4106-4114.
Pathogen problems start on the farm, on the farm, and in the hatchery. To fix this, I would suggest that line speed and visibility issues are secondary. Here is an “old” article on pre-harvest control: Pomeroy BS et al. 1989 Feasibility study for the production of salmonella-free turkeys. Bird diss. 33:1-7. There are many other papers.
The problem with implementing pre-harvest control is related to costs. How to create financial incentives for control?
I would recommend slaughterhouses to increase the line speed, but only for those sources that do not contain major hazards, Salmonella and Campylobacter, or at least do not contain clinical strains (Kentucky Salmonella, which can be a probiotic if it does not contain virulence genes). This would provide an economic incentive to implement control measures and reduce the public health burden associated with poultry production (many papers address this additional issue.
Post time: Jul-13-2023