Bacteria that cause foodborne illness reside on raw poultry carcasses. Always wash your hands, equipment and working surfaces after coming in contact with raw carcasses. This is especially important before handling or preparing other foods.
Most frozen poultry is vacuum-packed in plastic bags and then frozen in high-velocity freezers. The birds are kept in cold storage until needed. Before freezing, poultry may be injected with various salts, flavourings, and oils in order to increase the juiciness of the meat.
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Meat and poultry product inspection
Federal and state laws regulate meat and poultry product inspections. Producers can process the following without inspection.
- Birds for the producer’s own household consumption
- Up to 1,000 chickens, turkeys or geese for sale to other consumers within the state
Uninspected poultry can’t be sold or exchanged across states. If you have any questions about the small sale exemption under the provisions of the Poultry Products Inspection Act, reach out to:
- Your poultry extension specialist
- State meat and poultry regulatory agency
- Office of the Meat and Poultry Inspection Program, U.S. Department of Agriculture
At this point, the determination is made whether the meat will be fresh or frozen. For chicken to be considered fresh it cannot be frozen at any time.
Cleanliness is stressed in each stage of the chicken chain. Inspectors from the Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS), the enforcement arm of the USDA, are present to ensure sanitary practices, quality, and grading standards.
Once birds are killed, the name of the game is temperature control. With fresh chicken products, the packing area needs to be kept at a temperature of 8° – 10° C (46.4° – 50° F) for biosecurity reasons, according to WATTPoultry.com.
One of the main reasons maintaining the cold chain for fresh chicken is so challenging is that the meat needs to stay below the danger zone of 4.4° C (40° F). It must also not dip below -3.3° C (26° F) in order to be labeled as fresh according to the USDA.
HPL is a logistics company that specializes in moving chicken products. Many of HPL’s clients are from Gainesville, Georgia, the “Chicken Capital of the World” and the tips that follow come from HPL’s experience delivering poultry to some of America’s best-known restaurant and grocery chains.
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FAQ
How do you package chicken after butchering?
How are whole chickens processed?