How we Protect Against the Cost of Muscle Abnormalities in Broiler Breast Meat – Including Woody Breast and White Striping.
Woody / Wooden Chicken Breast Meat and White Striping is estimated to cost the Poultry Industry between 200-1,000M USD per year.
With consumers taking to social media to share their experiences, brand protection is more important than ever. Automate and Control LTD have the most advanced solution on the market to ensure your consumers don’t suffer a poor quality experience.
“Wooden breast” describes quality problems caused by abnormal muscles in a small portion of chicken. This condition makes the chicken breasts hard to the touch, and the colour is usually light and the texture is poor. Wooden breast will not bring any health or food safety hazards to people, and the welfare of the chicken itself will not be negatively affected.
What causes the "woody breast"?
Do larger, faster raised chickens cause "woody breasts"?
The cause of the “woody breast” is not yet clear, and researchers are working to determine the cause and possible solutions. The poultry industry will invest more than a quarter of a million dollars in four independent research projects of independent universities and the Agricultural Research Service of the United States Department of Agriculture, while also collaborating with geneticists, veterinarians, and animal scientists to gain insight into this kind of muscle disease and remedy it.
Is "Wooden Brest" a threat to my health? Is this common?
No, chicken with “woody/wooden breast” will not pose a threat to consumers’ health. The concern about “woody breasts” is the quality (texture and appearance) of the meat, not the health or nutritional content of the meat. All chicken companies check these quality problems in their processing plants. This situation is sporadic and only affects a small part of the poultry.
How do chicken producers currently deal with "woody-breasted chicken"?
In addition to strict Food Safety Inspection equipment such as X-rays and metal detectors the chicken companies also have processing plant employees who inspect each piece of breast meat in the factory. And if any quality issues such as “wooden breasts” are found, meat is usually transferred for use elsewhere.
The issue with manual poultry breast inspection is fatigue of the employee carrying out this process. Early in the shift the accuracy may be in the high 80% dropping off over the day to maybe around the 60% mark. With our Poultry Quality Inspection System QIS-4P you receive 100% inspection with an average of >95% accuracy.
Using Online, High Speed, CHEMICAL COLOUR ANALYSIS, not only does our system inspect for Woody Breast it can also inspect for other contaminants not wanted in a ready to cook ready or fast food product, such as small fragments of bone, fat, skin, blood spots all that may impair the final product when consumed by your customers.
QIS-4P meat and poultry inspection systems from Automate and Control LTD
For more information on Muscle Abnormalities in Broiler Breast Meat visit.
https://www.kosfaj.org/archive/view_article?pid=kosfa-38-5-835
For more information on automated poultry inspection systems, contact
Automate and Control LTD – sales@automateandcontrol.co.uk