New microbial performance standards for chicken parts necessitate postchill antimicrobial interventions to make poultry parts safer for consumers. This research was conducted to determine the effectiveness of antimicrobials (0.003% chlorine; 0.07% acidified sodium chlorite [ASC], 0.07 or 0.1% peracetic acid [PAA], and 0.35 or 0.60% cetylpyridinium chloride [CPC]) when used in a postchill decontamination tank to reduce Salmonella and Campylobacter on broiler chicken parts (including breasts, thighs, wings, and drumsticks) and to determine the sensory attributes of the treated samples. Samples (n = 90, 9 treatments × 5 samples × 2 replications) were inoculated with Salmonella Typhimurium (108 CFU/mL) and Campylobacter jejuni (108 CFU/mL). After a 30-min attachment time, chicken parts were rinsed with various antimicrobials in a decontamination tank for 23 s. Salmonella and Campylobacter reduction was determined by sampling parts after the treatments were applied. Sensory evaluation of skin-on (drum...

Bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) was established to quantify diverse cellular characteristics. This technique has been widely used in various species, such as fish, poultry, and humans for compositional analysis. This technology was limited to offline quality assurance/detection of woody breast (WB); however, inline technology that can be retrofitted on the conveyor belt would be more helpful to processors. Freshly deboned (n = 80) chicken breast fillets were collected from a local processor and analyzed by hand-palpation for different WB severity levels. Data collected from both BIA setups were subjected to supervised and unsupervised learning algorithms. The modified BIA showed better detection ability for regular fillets than the probe BIA setup. In the plate BIA setup, fillets were 80.00% for normal, 66.67% for moderate (data for mild and moderate merged), and 85.00% for severe WB. However, hand-held BIA showed 77.78, 85.71, and 88.89% for normal, moderate, and severe WB, respectively. Plate BIA setup is more effective in detecting WB myopathies and could be installed without slowing the processing line. Breast fillet detection on the processing line can be significantly improved using a modified automated plate BIA.

Technologies for rapid identification and prediction of food spoilage can be crucial in minimizing food waste and losses, although their efficiency requires further improvement. This study aimed to pinpoint specific near-infrared (NIR) wavelengths that could indicate spoilage in raw chicken breast fillets. In this study, commercial tray-packs of boneless, skinless chicken breast fillets stored in a walk-in cooler at 4 °C were periodically tested every other day until they reached the spoilage state (identified by > 7 log CFU/ml). A portable Hyper spectral spectroscopy device (Field Spec Hi-Res4), with a range of wavelengths of 350–2500 nm, was used to measure reflectance. In addition to hyper-spectral analysis, aerobic plate counts were conducted on the fillets. The data from these counts were then used to train a Back Propagation Neural Network (B.P.N.N.) with specific parameters (250,000 steps, a learning rate of 0.02, and 5 hidden layers) and Linear-Support Vector machines (SVM-Linear) with ten-fold cross-validation technique to categorize spoilage into three stages: baseline microbial count (up to 3 log CFU/ml) (Initiation), propagation (between 3 and 6.9 log CFU/ml), and spoiled (> 7 log CFU/ml). The feature extraction process successfully identified the most representative signature wavelengths of 385 nm, 400 nm, 432 nm, 1141 nm, 1321 nm, 1374 nm, 2241 nm, 2292 nm, 2311 nm, and 2412 nm from the whole hyper-spectral profile, which facilitated the classification of different phases of spoilage. The BPNN model demonstrated a high classification accuracy, with 93.7% for baseline counts, 95.2% for the propagation phase, and 98% for the spoiled category. These signature hyperspectral wavelengths hold the potential for developing cost-effective and rapid food spoilage detection systems, particularly for perishable items.

Woody breast (WB) myopathy affected meat has a tough texture, higher cook loss, and decreased water holding capacity (WHC), and thus lower consumer acceptability. The WB meat can be ground and further converted into further processed products or frozen, stored, and shipped to further processors. Freezing and thawing of ground WB meat may further affect the quality of WB meat products. Hence, research is required to determine the effect of pre-blended phosphates on the quality of ground WB meat as well as its cryoprotective effect during frozen storage. The objective of this experiment was to investigate the effect of pre-blended phosphate levels on meat quality in WB and normal breast (NB) fillets before and after freezing. NB fillets and severely affected WB fillets were procured from a local commercial processor. The meat was separated into various treatment groups according to the sodium tripolyphosphate (STPP) inclusion levels (0, 0.25, and 0.5% w/w). The meat was ground with respective phosphate treatments and subdivided into vacuum-sealed bags (n = 240; 1 kg each). Half of the bags (n = 120) from each treatment were taken for meat quality analysis, while the other bags were placed in a freezer (−18 °C) for 6 days. Fresh samples were analyzed within 6–8 h while the frozen samples were thawed for 18 h at 4°C prior to analysis. Samples (n = 10) were analyzed for gel strength, pH, color (L* a* b*), proximate composition, and randomly selected samples (n = 5) were analyzed for aerobic plate count (APC). Experiments were repeated in two separate replications and the data was analyzed using the Proc Glimmix model procedure in SAS (v. 9.4) (Cary, NC, USA) with LSMeans Separation at p ≤ 0.05. The gel strength (g) of the fresh ground NB meat (883.7 g) was higher than the gel strength of woody meat (720.8 g) with 0% phosphate (p ≤ 0.05). Addition of phosphate (0.25 and 0.5%) significantly increased the gel strength of fresh woody meat but it was significantly lower than NB meat added with 0.25 and 0.5% phosphate treatment. After freezing, ground NB meat samples with 0.25 and 0.5% phosphate had higher gel strength compared to fresh and frozen ground WB meat (p ≤ 0.05). Pre-blended STPP raised the pH in all treatments (p < 0.05). Treatments did not have any clear impact on APC of ground WB or NB meat. Addition of pre-blended sodium tripolyphosphate increases the functionality of fresh and frozen ground WB meat, as well as NB meat.

Pet humanization and premiumization of pet foods have led to significant changes in the co-product market, as pet food companies are looking for more profitable protein sources for their products. Co-products such as beef liver (BL) and beef heart (BH) can be combined to generate restructured pet foods rich in vitamins and nutrients. Sodium alginate and encapsulated calcium lactate (ALGIN) can improve the acceptability of meat pieces by transforming them into a singular shape. The objective of this experiment was to assess the physiochemical parameters of co-products for utilization in raw pet foods and restructured pet treats generated from BL and BH by using ALGIN as a structure-forming agent. Results demonstrated increased cooking loss as ALGIN inclusion decreased, but cooking loss decreased as BL proportions increased (p = 0.0056). Expressible moisture of raw pet food decreased as ALGIN inclusion increased, but more moisture was released from treats when BL proportions increased (p < 0.0001). Increasing ALGIN and BH led to increased water activity of cooked treats (p < 0.0001). Thus, we suggest that BL and BH combinations with ALGIN inclusion produces a viable platform for higher inclusions of co-products in pet treats. Additionally, these ingredients improved the finished product quality characteristics of raw pet foods.