Poultry Meat Industry Research Articles

Injuries of Repetitive Efforts in Workers from the Poultry Meat Industry: A Bibliometric Analysis of Literature

Injuries of repetitive efforts constitute one of the prime causes of absenteeism in the workplace, bear a considerable cost for the public health system and can cast doubt on the sustainability of a company. The objective of this paper is to build, in the researchers, the needed knowledge to choose a set of relevant scientific articles about repetitive strain injuries in the poultry meat industry, aiming to identify characteristics in those scientific publications that have the potential to contribute to the topic of this paper. The research is characterized as exploratory-descriptive, and draws on primary and secondary data sources. The study involves the application of a method for the selection and analysis of the selected articles. To this end, the method utilized was the knowledge development process—constructivist (Proknow-C), as the theoretical intervention instrument. Within the process development, a portfolio of 16 articles aligned to the research and scientifically recognized with the main periodicals, papers, authors and keywords was obtained. The ProKnow-C process allowed us to identify opportunities in the literature about injuries in the poultry meat industry and showed opportunities for future research. This paper, under the constructivist perspective, presents a structured process to build, in the researcher, the necessary knowledge for the identification, selection and analysis of relevant scientific articles relating to research context and, for these articles, find prominences and opportunities for a research theme without similar publications.

Meat defects and emergent muscle myopathies in broiler chickens: implications for the modern poultry industry

- Due to intensive selection, broiler chickens have become the most efficient meat producing animals, attaining exceptionally rapid growth. However, several studies indicate that fast-growing varieties exhibit various muscle tissue defects – myopathies – which adversely affect the poultry meat industry. In particular, recent decades have seen an increase in the incidence of breast muscle abnormalities such as myopathy of the minor (deep) pectoral muscles and pale, soft and exudative (PSE) meat, and more recently white fibres called ‘white striping’, hardening of the breast muscle known as ‘wooden breast’, and intramuscular connective tissue defects (‘spaghetti meat’). These abnormalities increase the occurrence of lower quality fresh meat for the retail market and to some extent reduce the nutritional, sensory and technological properties of raw meat used for further processing. The prevalence of these conditions indicates that further improvements in the efficiency of the meat industry and meat production may be constrained by the physiological capabilities of broilers, as their internal organs, vascular system and skeleton appear to be close to their functional limit. Hence, a problematic question is whether it is better to continue to set new performance goals for animals or to consider a step back in the selection process and attempt to reduce the extent of these emergent quality issues.

Reducing Risk of Campylobacteriosis from Poultry: A Mini Review

The worldwide annual cost of campylobacteriosis is at least several billion dollars. Risk analysis is being used to reduce the magnitude of the problem and to support regulations and voluntary actions that are successful in that the number of cases of illness is decreasing. The new regulations in the U.S. have resulted in commercial products with fewer Campylobacter. During the last 16 years there has been significant progress in New Zealand because of new regulations that have resulted in reduced numbers of Campylobacter on marketed products. While some progress has been made in reducing cross contamination, it remains an important issue. Food safety education on the general principles of food hygiene and food handling as well as applications of hazard analysis and critical control point (HACCP) principles in food safety management are recommended to address the challenges associated with cross contamination. Economic analysis of campylobacteriosis and the poultry meat industry shows that there are significant benefits of addressing the challenges associated with Campylobacter in poultry products. Freezing has been shown to be an excellent cost-effective method to reduce the number of viable Campylobacter and the number of cases of campylobacteriosis.

Precipitation and ultimate pH effect on chemical and gelation properties of protein prepared by isoelectric solubilization/precipitation process from pale, soft, exudative (PSE)-like chicken breast meat

Pale, soft, exudative (PSE)-like chicken breast is considered deteriorated raw material in the poultry meat industry that has inferior processing ability. The chemical and gelation properties of PSE-like chicken breast meat paste were studied. These pastes were prepared by the pH adjustment method and protein isolation using the isoelectric solubilization/precipitation (ISP) process from PSE-like chicken meat. The ISP-isolated samples were solubilized at pH 11.0 and recovered at pH 5.5 and 6.2. The ultimate pH of the ISP-isolated protein and meat paste was adjusted to 6.2 and 7.0. The ultimate pH in this article referred to the final pH of the extracted protein and meat paste. Higher reactive sulfhydryl content and surface hydrophobicity were found in the precipitation at pH 6.2 than at pH 5.5. However, various ultimate pH values showed no significant influence on the surface hydrophobicity. The hardness of gel, as measured by textural profile analysis, was improved using 6.2 as the precipitation pH compared with pH 5.5. The viscoelastic modulus (G′) of gel pastes prior to the thermal gelation was higher with ISP treatment. However, lower G′ was seen after thermal gelation compared with the control. Dynamic rheological measurement demonstrated a different gel-forming mechanism for protein precipitated at pH values of 5.5 and 6.2 compared with the meat paste. The cooking loss showed that the recovered protein failed to form a gel with good water-retention capacity unless the ultimate pH was adjusted to 7.0. Gels made from protein extracted by the ISP method had higher yellowness and lower redness values, probably due to protein denaturation. Precipitation at pH 6.2 formed a harder gel with lower water-retention ability than that at pH 5.5, and this result was possibly due to higher surface hydrophobicity and S-S bridge formation. Overall, network characteristics of ISP-treated protein gels were strongly dependent on precipitation pH and ultimate pH.

Rapid on-line detection and grading of wooden breast myopathy in chicken fillets by near-infrared spectroscopy.

The main objective of this work was to develop a method for rapid and non-destructive detection and grading of wooden breast (WB) syndrome in chicken breast fillets. Near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy was chosen as detection method, and an industrial NIR scanner was applied and tested for large scale on-line detection of the syndrome. Two approaches were evaluated for discrimination of WB fillets: 1) Linear discriminant analysis based on NIR spectra only, and 2) a regression model for protein was made based on NIR spectra and the estimated concentrations of protein were used for discrimination. A sample set of 197 fillets was used for training and calibration. A test set was recorded under industrial conditions and contained spectra from 79 fillets. The classification methods obtained 99.5–100% correct classification of the calibration set and 100% correct classification of the test set. The NIR scanner was then installed in a commercial chicken processing plant and could detect incidence rates of WB in large batches of fillets. Examples of incidence are shown for three broiler flocks where a high number of fillets (9063, 6330 and 10483) were effectively measured. Prevalence of WB of 0.1%, 6.6% and 8.5% were estimated for these flocks based on the complete sample volumes. Such an on-line system can be used to alleviate the challenges WB represents to the poultry meat industry. It enables automatic quality sorting of chicken fillets to different product categories. Manual laborious grading can be avoided. Incidences of WB from different farms and flocks can be tracked and information can be used to understand and point out main causes for WB in the chicken production. This knowledge can be used to improve the production procedures and reduce today’s extensive occurrence of WB.

Detection of differentially expressed genes in broiler pectoralis major muscle affected by White Striping – Wooden Breast myopathies

White Striping and Wooden Breast (WS/WB) are abnormalities increasingly occurring in the fillets of high breast yield and growth rate chicken hybrids. These defects lead to consistent economic losses for poultry meat industry, as affected broiler fillets present an impaired visual appearance that negatively affects consumers’ acceptability. Previous studies have highlighted in affected fillets a severely damaged muscle, showing profound inflammation, fibrosis, and lipidosis. The present study investigated the differentially expressed genes and pathways linked to the compositional changes observed in WS/WB breast muscles, in order to outline a more complete framework of the gene networks related to the occurrence of this complex pathological picture. The biochemical composition was performed on 20 pectoralis major samples obtained from high breast yield and growth rate broilers (10 affected vs. 10 normal) and 12 out of the 20 samples were used for the microarray gene expression profiling (6 affected vs. 6 normal). The obtained results indicate strong changes in muscle mineral composition, coupled to an increased deposition of fat. In addition, 204 differentially expressed genes (DEG) were found: 102 up-regulated and 102 down-regulated in affected breasts. The gene expression pathways found more altered in WS/WB muscles are those related to muscle development, polysaccharide metabolic processes, proteoglycans synthesis, inflammation, and calcium signaling pathway. On the whole, the findings suggest that a multifactorial and complex etiology is associated with the occurrence of WS/WB muscle abnormalities, contributing to further defining the transcription patterns associated with these myopathies.

Efficient Utilisation of Poultry By-Products for Economic Sustainability - The Need of the Hour

Now there is a huge increase in global demand for different poultry products in India due to its price competitive nature, nutritional value and because, it is free from social restrictions in eating point of view. Due to large number of birds are being slaughtered for the production of variety of poultry meat and meat products, huge quantities of wastes and by-products are generated. These are causing environmental pollution and health hazards, attract flies and harbours multifarious microbes of pathogenic nature. Poultry by-products can act as a source of energy, livestock feed, fertilizer, liming components for soil, collagen, gelatine and calcium. After suitable processing, poultry by-products can be converted into feather meal, hydrolized feather meal and poultry by-product meal. Under utilization of by-products not only lead to loss of potential revenues but also lead to the increasing cost of their disposal. Besides pollution and hazard aspects, poultry meat industry wastes have a potential for recycling raw materials into products of higher value. In this regards this paper reviews the multiple uses of poultry by products for the self sustainability.

Short-term nutritional strategies before slaughter are effective in modulating the final pH and color of broiler breast meat

The poultry meat industry is faced with various quality issues related to variations in the ultimate pH of breast meat. The aim of this study was to evaluate the possibility to control breast ultimate pH by distributing finishing diets varying in amino acid (AA) and energy content for a short period before slaughter. Experimental diets were distributed to PM3 broilers on the last 3 d before slaughter (36 d of age). They consisted of a control (C) diet (3,150 kcal/kg; 200 g/kg of CP; 10.0 g/kg of true digestible Lys) with adequate amounts of AA other than Lys, 6 diets isocaloric to the control diet including 3 Lys-deficient (8.0 g/kg) diets with an adequate (Lys−/AA), low (Lys−/AA−), or high (Lys−/AA+) amount of other essential AA calculated in relation to Lys, and 3 Lys-rich (12.0 g/kg) diets with an adequate (Lys+/AA), low (Lys+/AA−), or high (Lys+/AA+) amount of other essential AA calculated in relation to Lys, and 2 diets isoproteic to C with a high (3,300 kcal/kg, E+) or low (3,000 kcal/kg, E−) energy content. Broiler feed consumption and growth performance were slightly affected by AA and energy content during the finishing period. Feed intake (33–36 d) was lower with the Lys+/AA+ and E+, and FCR between 24 and 36 d was higher with the Lys−/AA− and E− than with the C diet. Body weight at d 36 was lower in Lys−/AA−, Lys+/AA+, and E+ than in C, whereas the breast meat yield and abdominal fatness were not affected by diet. Lower pH values were observed in broilers fed Lys-deficient diets containing a high amount of other AA (Lys−/AA+) than in broilers fed diets containing low (AA−) or adequate (AA) amounts of other AA. This study shows that it is possible to alter the pH of breast meat by changing AA profile over a short period before slaughter, with limited impact on broiler growth and carcass composition.

Structural profile and emerging constraints of developing poultry meat industry in Pakistan

The poultry industry, with its fast 8–10% growth rate annually, is the second largest industry of Pakistan, however the structural flow of meat products from farmers to consumers is multifaceted. The potential of the meat industry, with its variety of end products, is growing rapidly and serving the wealthier populations of Pakistan and Afghanistan. The meat industry has many emerging constraints for the supply of meat and its products from market to the consumer. Adopting modern poultry farming methods without following the strict hygienic conditions will prove to be a threat in the near future. The traditional supply of all types of meat and related products in the existing market needs strict government monitoring. The structural flow of meat in Pakistan continues in its traditional forms, but nevertheless continues to keep pace with the demands of the Pakistan and Afghanistan. The developing meat industry is facing many emerging problems including diseases, energy crisis and distress sales during disasters, corruption, and government policy. On the whole, the people of Pakistan are conscious about Halal, Healthy and Hygienic (3Hs) meat at a low price. The following paper reviews the current status of poultry meat and its products in this region.

Deboning broiler chicken legs and wings by dislocation of articular cartilage followed by stripping periosteum

The yield of deboned meat is an important economic factor affecting the profit of the meat industry. This study was undertaken to determine whether the yield of boneless meat from broiler chicken leg (thigh and drumstick) and wing (drumette and winglet) is improved by introducing a new deboning method consisting of articular cartilage dislocation followed by stripping periosteum. A total of 44 broiler chicken carcasses were used in the deboning experiment. Right and left legs or wings from the first 22 carcasses were assigned to the new and ordinary hand deboning methods, respectively. For the remaining 22 carcasses, right and left legs or wings were assigned to the ordinary and new methods, respectively. The weight of residue, composed of bone and small amounts of cartilage and noncartilaginous tissues obtained after deboning, was then compared between the right and left legs or wings to see the difference between the 2 methods. The removal of tibia, fibula, humerus, radius, or ulna resulted in formation of a hollow in boneless meat obtained. There was no difference (P > 0.05) between the right and left legs or wings in the weight of residue obtained after deboning as expected. The weight of residue was less (P < 0.05) with the new method compared with the ordinary method in all chicken parts examined. The difference of residue weight between the 2 methods accounted for 10, 12, 14, and 21% of the weight of residue obtained by the ordinary method in thigh, drumstick, drumette, and winglet, respectively. The new method may be useful to deboners at home kitchens as well as the poultry meat industry. The present study also showed the development of a secondary ossification center at the proximal end of the carpometacarpus of chickens. This is, to our knowledge, the first report of development of secondary ossification center in chicken wings.

THERMOPHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF HYDROLYZED BY‐PRODUCTS FROM THE MEAT INDUSTRY

ABSTRACTThe method of mixtures, a pycnometric technique and a procedure based on an unsteady‐state condition of heat transfer were applied to obtain the specific heat, apparent density and thermal conductivity of processed by‐products from residuals of poultry slaughterhouses, respectively. Physical‐chemical analyses revealed that the investigated material presented 3.7% of water, 10.2% of ash, 8 to 25% of lipid and 37 to 60% of protein. The effect of moisture content and mass fraction of lipids on the aforementioned thermophysical properties was experimentally investigated at approximately 25C. Semiempirical models based on theoretical considerations and on the content of water, lipid and matter free of these components were suggested. A group of model parameters tuned on the experimental results revealed a specific heat, apparent density and thermal conductivity of dry processed by‐product without lipid close to 366 J/kg/C, 396 kg/m and 0.038 W/m/C, respectively.PRACTICAL APPLICATIONSA growing availability of residuals from poultry slaughterhouses is an important consequence of the large expansion of the poultry meat industry in Brazil. Excessive consumption of energy and large emission of non‐toxic odorous pollutants are the major current problems in the rendering industry. The determined thermophysical properties are essential for modeling and design calculations of cheaper and cleaner continuous industrial digesters that could replace the traditional technology of thermal hydrolysis of poultry by‐products.

Beneficial effects of canola oil on breast fatty acids profile and some of serum biochemical parameters of Iranian native turkeys.

During many years, the main objective of the poultry meat industry was to improve body weight and feed efficiency of the birds. However, in the modern poultry industry, there are other parameters that need to be taken into consideration such as low cholesterol and improved fatty acid profile. For this purpose, an experiment was conducted to evaluate canola oil effects on the Iranian native Turkey’s serum parameters and breast meat fatty acid. Ninety male turkey chicks were randomly distributed into three experimental (0, 2.5 and 5%) with three replicate for each group. Diets were isonitrogenous and isoenergetic were given to turkey chicks throughout four periods of breeding (4 - 8, 8 - 12, 12 - 16 and 16 - 20th). The blood sample was taken at the end of the breeding period and serum parameters calculated by Friedewald method. Two pieces from each pen randomly selected and slaughtered with cutting the neck vessels and experimental samples from each breast meat sample prepared and pattern of fatty acids of breast samples was determined by gas chromatography. Serum values were not found to be significantly different (P < 0.05) in triglycerides and VLDL and in CHOL, LDL and HDL (P < 0.05) was significantly different compared to the control group. n-3 Fatty acids used as �-linoleic acid using canola oil had positive effect on the values and amount of this fatty acid in the control of 3.5562% reached to 6.7994 and 8.2447%, respectively in the experimental treatments (P < 0.05). Finally, our results illustrated that canola oil had significant impact on lipid metabolism in native turkey and could improve their serum lipid profile.

Understanding stress-induced immunosuppression: Exploration of cytokine and chemokine gene profiles in chicken peripheral leukocytes

At present, the poultry meat and egg industry has gained a lot of ground, being viewed as a provider of a healthy alternative to red meat and other protein sources. If this trend is to be maintained, solutions must be found to improve resistance of chickens to disease, which often is weakened by stressful conditions. In poultry, stress-induced immunosuppression is manifested by failures in vaccination and increased morbidity and mortality of flocks. Currently, several modern cellular and molecular approaches are being used to explore the status of the immune system during stress and disease. It is likely that these new techniques will lead to the development of new strategies for preventing and controlling immunosuppression in poultry. Using quantitative reverse transcription-PCR assays, a broad spectrum of cytokine, chemokine, and their receptor genes can be quantified in birds and then be used as markers to assess the effects of stress on the immune system. Currently, we are investigating immune and endocrine interactions in the chicken, in particular the cells and molecules that are known to be involved in such interactions in mammals. We have evaluated the effects of corticosterone administration in drinking water on peripheral lymphocyte and heterophil cytokine and chemokine gene profiles. In particular, there seems to be effects on cytokine and chemokine mRNA expression levels in both lymphocytes and heterophils, especially expression of the proinflammatory cytokines interleukin (IL)-1beta, IL-6, and IL-18 and chemokines C-C motif, ligand 1 inflammatory (CCLi1); C-C motif, ligand 2 inflammatory (CCLi2); C-C motif, ligand 5 (CCL5); C-C motif, ligand 16 (CCL16); C-X-C motif ligand 1 inflammatory (CXCLi1); and C-X-C motif ligand 2 inflammatory (CXCLi2), which are initially upregulated and are potentially involved in modulating the adaptive immune response. A chronic treatment with corticosterone downregulates proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines, suggesting that the delayed effects of chronic stress can suppress the immune response. Messenger RNA expression levels of transforming growth factor-beta4 (TGF-beta4) are also upregulated in cortisosterone-treated birds. It appears that the balance between T-helper (Th) 1 and Th2/T regulatory cytokine production is altered in conditions associated with significant changes in plasma corticosterone concentration. Experiments are underway to decipher the cytokine and chemokine responses to vaccination and bacterial challenge on the background of stress-induced immunosuppression.

Buying decision‐making process for poultry meat

Purpose – In 2006 the world global poultry meat market was developing under the influence of shocks caused by the outbreak of the avian influenza which spread to the poultry meat market at the end of 2005. The virus affected the entire world poultry meat industry and thus visibly marked the world trade in poultry meat in 2006. This paper aims to investigate these issues.

An ICT-based traceability system in compound feed industry

The term traceability refers to recording of flow of products along the food chain from production to consumption with inclusion of all intermediate applications involved in processing/packaging stages. The aim for establishing traceability in the food chain is to provide the timely identification and recall of batches of product from the market when a risk threatens the health of consumers. Since compound feed products are basic inputs in livestock and poultry production, ICT-based feed traceability systems can be considered as a initial step in food traceability management. These systems are simply information recording systems that are designed to trace and track the flow and characteristics of animal feed along the feed supply chain. This paper describes the architecture and some functional properties of a feed traceability system called as the “feed TRace”, focusing particularly on compound feed and integrated poultry meat industries. The feedTRace aims to improve compound feed supply chain management, to increase feed safety and quality control, and to gain marketing competencies with traceable products in compound feed industry. The system is currently under beta stage, and is tested in two high capacity feed milling plants and an integrated broiler company located inAdana province of Turkey.

SURVIVAL OF ESCHERICHIA COLI, STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS AND SALMONELLA ENTERITIDIS IN FROZEN CHICKEN HAMBURGER

ABSTRACT The survival of food pathogens during frozen storage of chicken hamburgers was evaluated. Hamburgers were contaminated with Escherichia coli (ECHC), Staphylococcus aureus (SAFH) and Salmonella Enteritidis (SE86), separately, and stored at −18C for 28 days. Results demonstrated reductions of 0.63 log10 cfu/g, 0.73 log10 cfu/g and 0.27 log10 most probable number/g in the populations of ECHC, SAFH and SE86, respectively. These microorganisms were also stored at −18C in 0.1% peptone water and presented significantly different reductions (P &lt; 0.05) when compared with frozen hamburgers, suggesting that components of chicken hamburger may exert a cryoprotective effect on microbial cells.PRACTICAL APPLICATIONSEven though Brazilian poultry meat industries present high levels of quality control, the presence of bacterial pathogens in hamburgers may occur. In Brazil, chicken hamburgers are frequently commercialized frozen, and it is well established that frozen temperatures are able to avoid microbial growth. However, frozen temperatures can also be able to inactivate part of the bacterial population, and the magnitude of its effect will vary according to the type of food and the process that it was submitted. This study evaluated the survival of Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Salmonella Enteritidis in frozen hamburgers, aiming to verify if this process could provide an additional margin of safety to this product.

Consumer perception of poultry meat and the importance of country of origin in a purchase making process

The development of the global poultry meat market has, in recent years, been marked by rapid, unexpected and complex changes. The poultry meat industry is one of the most competitive international sectors and is currently in its mature stage of development. In order to maintain their competitive position on the market, companies have to constantly prove themselves by supplying innovative products and processes.This review focuses on recent trends in Slovenia, and the aim is to demonstrate how the present situation in Slovenia fits into the general trends within the European Union.The article concentrates on the results of the primary quantitative research, which was carried out via individual personal interviews. The sample consisted of 600 Slovenian poultry meat consumers, aged between 18 and 65 years. Special attention was paid to the origin of meat in the consumer's decision-making process. The positive perception of poultry meat and the importance of its origin in the purchase-decision-making process were evident from the survey and knowing meat origin plays a key role in the purchase-decision-making process. The trends in poultry meat consumption, which were determined in our study of the European poultry meat market, were thus confirmed by the quantitative research, which was also carried out in Slovenia.

Prevalence and key figures for the poultry red mite Dermanyssus gallinae infections in poultry farm systems

Recent surveys and sample collection have confirmed the endemicity of Dermanyssus gallinae in poultry farming worldwide. The reduction in number and efficacy of many acaricide products has accentuated the prevalence rates of this poultry ectoparasite observed more often in non intensive systems such as free-range, barns or backyards and more often in laying hens than in broiler birds. The lack of knowledge from producers and the utilisation of inadequate, ineffective or illegal chemicals in many countries have been responsible for the increase in infestation rates due to the spread of acaricide resistance. The costs for control methods and treatment are showing the tremendous economic impact of this ectoparasite on poultry meat and egg industries. This paper reviews the prevalence rates of this poultry pest in different countries and for different farming systems and the production parameters which could be linked to this pest proliferation.

Study of odor compounds in gaseous effluents generated during production of poultry feather and viscera meal using headspace solid phase microextraction

This work reports the screening and characterization of odor compounds in gaseous effluents generated during the production of poultry feather and viscera meal, the by-products of the poultry meat industry. Chemical analysis was carried out by solid phase microextraction in the headspace (HS-SPME) mode. Exhaust air of thermal processing of poultry feather and viscera were sampled online from a bench-scale digester, condensed, and collected in sampling flasks. Both volatile and semivolatile organic compounds present in the condensed gases were extracted under agitation at constant temperature. The extracts were analyzed with a gas chromatograph coupled to a mass spectrometric detector (GC/MSD). The identification of compounds was carried out by comparing the mass spectra obtained with those from the Wiley library and quantification was accomplished through authentic analytical standards. For the determination of the best extraction conditions and analysis, extraction fibers of different coatings and polarities were tested: divinylbenzene/carboxen/polydimethyilsiloxane (DVB/CAR/PDMS), carbowax/divinylbenzene (CW/DVB), and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and chromatography columns of different polarities: DB-WAX (polar) and DB-5 (nonpolar). The best extraction conditions and analysis of the compounds of interest were obtained by the use of the SPME fiber with DVB/CAR/PDMS coating and analysis by GC/MSD with polar capillary column. Several carboxylic acids were identified, as well as mercaptans, amines, and aldehydes of great environmental importance.

Food safety management in broiler meat production

PurposeEnsuring compliance with food safety legislation and market requirements is one of the key issues facing the poultry meat industry. The purpose of this paper is to analyse how a pre‐requisite programme (PRP) and key performance indicators for food safety can be developed in the poultry meat supply chain.Design/methodology/approachThe first stage of the research involved an examination of literature, which was conducted using desk research. The second stage includes a discussion on food safety management systems in primary production and the development of food safety plans with an associated PRP.FindingsEffective food safety management systems in primary production are critical to supplying food which is safe and wholesome. In order to manage food safety effectively measurable indicators of performance should be developed. These will provide data on the suitability of the food for sale, the effectiveness of the food safety management system and any potential areas of weakness which in turn will drive continuous improvement.Originality/valueThis study is of benefit to the broiler industry in the further development of quality assurance standards and business improvement models.