Research Note: Reducing food loss in the manufacturing process of chickens by reconditioning dropped raw poultry carcasses with peroxyacetic acid and sodium hypochlorite (chlorine) solution

Food waste and food loss has been a growing concern in the manufacturing industry with a gap between identifying the problem and implementing a solution. The manufacturing process of chicken is largely automated by conveyor belts and machines in which initial application of either peroxyacetic acid (PAA) or sodium hypochlorite (chlorine) solution is utilized to reduce the microbial load and prevent food borne illnesses on the chicken products as they are processed and packaged for distribution. However, during this automated process whole chickens can drop from the manufacturing line and become contaminated leading to the disposal and waste of the product. A solution to reduce food waste was to analyze a reconditioning procedure within the manufacturing process. The study evaluated the aerobic microbial growth on salvaged marinated deli raw whole chickens without giblets (WOGs) from conveyor belt loss reconditioned in either PAA or sodium hypochlorite (chlorine) solution to undropped chicken WOGs. Chicken rinsate and segmented samples were collected from each parameter and tested for microbial growth using Petrifilm aerobic plate count (APC) plates and converting results into log colony forming units (CFU). A difference (P < 0.05) was observed with the reconditioning of the WOGs in PAA (0.71 log(10) CFU/mL) compared to the control (1.45 +/- 0.26 log(10) CFU/mL), for rinses. Of the segmented samples, the trussing strings displayed a significant decrease in APC counts for both chlorine (2.30 +/- 0.49 log(10) CFU/g) and PAA (2.3 +/- 0.49 log(10) CFU/g) reconditioning compared to the control (2.72 +/- 0.39 log(10) CFU/g). Reconditioning of salvaged deli chicken WOGs in chlorine or PAA is comparable to or better than the conventional process for the reduction of APC, it is an effective strategy to reintroduce dropped marinated deli chicken WOGs to the manufacturing line and can reduce food waste at a manufacturing level.

Automated summary

Food waste and loss are a growing concern in the manufacturing industry, especially in the automated process of chicken production where contamination and disposal of dropped chickens occur. This study suggests a reconditioning procedure that effectively reduces aerobic microbial growth on salvaged chicken products, making it a viable solution to reduce food waste at a manufacturing level.