Veterinarian offers practical tips for reducing carcass condemnations.

Observe, judge, act — Veterinarian offers practical tips for reducing carcass condemnations.Poultry processors and regulators have the same objectives — minimize chicken condemnations and maximize food safety. Working as a team is the best way to safeguard consumer health and maintain profitability at the processing plant. “It should not be an adversarial or confrontational relationship,” said Douglas Fulnechek, DVM, senior technical service veterinarian for Zoetis. “You both have a role to play.” Fulnechek spent 28 years with the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) before entering private industry. He shared his insights into the regulatory and practical aspects of condemnation at the 2016 “Young Chicken Gross Pathology Workshop” held recently at the Georgia Poultry Laboratory in Gainesville, Georgia. Zoetis sponsored the event. Poultry carcasses are inspected during processing for signs of disease. In some cases, these conditions may result in carcasses being condemned because they are deemed not suitable for human consumption. To ensure that’s the case, FSIS requires condemned carcasses to be denatured using a colored dye so humans will never consume them. Fulnechek said several health conditions can lead inspectors to condemn a carcass, including: Septicemia/toxemia and airsacculitis, which are the two most common condemnations. Other conditions that affect the whole carcass like tumors, ascites, keratoacanthomas and other degenerative processes. It would be difficult to find a processor who has not asked, “What gives the government the right to take my chickens?” The answer, Fulnechek explained, lies in Mugler v. Kansas, a case that the U.S. Supreme Court decided in 1887. According to the court: “All property in this country is held under the implied obligation that the owner’s use of it shall not be injurious to the community.” “Once that carcass goes into the condemned barrel — even if it was a perfect carcass — it doesn’t get to come back,” Fulnechek said. “However, decisions [to condemn carcasses] have to be supported by scientific fact. Congress laid out the rules that FSIS has to follow: ‘Such condemnations shall be achieved through uniform inspections and uniform applications.’” The word “uniform”, of course, is subject to interpretation. This is why the Poultry Products Inspection Regulations spell out condemnation requirements as clearly as possible. “I encourage the industry to look up these regulations, carefully read them and have a discussion with the veterinary supervisor in the plant, because they all have a similar theme,” Fulnechek said. This is where the human element comes into play. FSIS inspectors first make their observations, then make a judgment based on what they saw and take appropriate action, if necessary. Observation criteria Inspectors have a checklist of what they are looking for, including:1) Body condition (plumpness, muscling, keel prominence, cachexia). 2)Tissue hydration 3)Fat 4)Liver 5) Spleen 6)Cardiovascular system 7)Gastrointestinal tract Fulnechek elaborated on the checklist. “You do it this way every time,” he said. “You go through this system so that you don’t overlook something.” Questions that get asked: You talk about the body condition. Is it plump? (“Juicy” was one of the terms that my FSIS inspectors used.) Look at the muscling, the prominence of the keel. Determine if the bird has been off feed. Has it lost some muscle mass? Was it properly hydrated? Examine the color and composition of the fat. Can you see changes such as serious atrophy of the fat? continue