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ARS Home » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #223050
Title: HIGH THROUGHPUT SPECTRAL IMAGING SYSTEM FOR WHOLESOMENESS INSPECTION OF POULTRY

Author
item Chao, Kuanglin - Kevin Chao
item YANG, CHUN-CHIEH - VISITING SCI., UNIV KY
item Kim, Moon

Submitted to: Midwest Poultry Federation Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/20/2008
Publication Date: 3/19/2008
Citation: Chao, K., Yang, C., Kim, M.S. 2008. High throughput spectral imaging system for wholesomeness inspection of poultry. Midwest Poultry Federation Proceedings. 11:1-7.

Interpretive Summary: The Agricultural Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture has developed a high throughput spectral imaging inspection system for wholesomeness inspection of freshly slaughtered chicken carcasses on commercial chicken processing lines. The imaging system can enable establishments to pre-sort poultry carcasses and help ensure that systemically diseased carcasses and parts are not presented to FSIS for inspection. The system has the capability to record and transmit collected data to the data storage warehouse for each young chicken carcass entering the slaughter line. By utilizing real-time data collection and removing systemically diseased carcasses from the slaughter line, the system can enhance FSIS’s ability to certify U.S. poultry products for both domestic and export markets. Use of the imaging system may also help to improve product safety by preventing most systemically diseased birds from entering the evisceration line and lowering the risk of cross-contamination. In addition, use of the system can help reduce the routine workload imposed upon FSIS inspectors working in HIMP processing plants, allowing them opportunities to perform more meaningful tasks to enhance the public health safety for poultry products.

Technical Abstract: A high throughout line-scan imaging system was developed to inspect freshly slaughtered chickens on a processing line for wholesomeness. The system identifies systemically diseased chickens for pre-sorting young chicken carcasses prior to FSIS inspection under the HACCP-based Inspection Models Project (HIMP). The system performs this identification by illuminating the front of each bird as it passes by on the kill line, measuring the spectral reflection from the bird in spectral line-scan images at key wavelengths of light, analyzing the images for each bird and performing a calculation on those spectral measurements. In-plant evaluation of the imaging system was conducted to inspect over 100,000 chickens on a commercial 140 bpm kill line during continuous operation and achieved over 99% accuracy in identifying wholesome chickens and over 98% accuracy in identifying systemically diseased chickens. Use of the line-scan imaging system will help poultry processing plants to improve food safety and production efficiency and satisfy increasing consumer demand for poultry products.