Poultry-Grading Manual - Agricultural Marketing Service

1 United StatesDepartment of AgricultureAgriculturalMarketingServiceA gricultureHandbookNumber 31 Poultry-GradingManualPREPARED FROMPOULTRYDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDThis symbol of assurance guaranteesthe product has been graded by the of Agriculture according tothe official US quality standards1 Contents .. Grading and Certification services .. 2A. Poultry Programs .. 2B. Poultry Eligible for Grading and Certification .. 3C. Official Identification Marks .. According to Quality Standards and Grades.. 6A. Uses of Standards and Grades.. 7B. Examining Carcasses and Parts To Determine Quality .. 7C. Quality Factors for Carcasses and Parts .. 8D. Cutting Poultry Parts.. Classes, Standards, and Grades for Poultry .. 16A. Classes of Ready-to-Cook Poultry.

2 16B. Standards for Quality of Ready-to-Cook Individual Carcasses and Parts.. 17C. Standards for Quality of Specified Poultry Food Products .. 23D. Grades for Ready-to-Cook Poultry and Specified Poultry Food Products .. to Specific Purchase Requirements .. Materials Available .. 31 Material in this Manual is not copyrighted and may bereproduced with or without April 1998 The Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimina-tion in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color,national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs,sexual orientation, and marital or family status. (Not all prohibitedbases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who requirealternative means for communication of program information(Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.)

3 Should contact USDA s TAR-GET Center at 202-720-2600 (voice and TDD).To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Director, Office ofCivil Rights, Room 326-W, Whitten Building, 14th andIndependence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call(202) 720-5964 (voice or TDD). USDA is an equal opportunityprovider and Manual is a guide to the uniform application of of Agriculture (USDA) classes, standards,and grades for poultry, and to USDA s voluntary poultrygrading and certification can also serve as thecourse outline for a poultry grading is designed primarily to aid poultry , itshould also prove useful to those teaching poultry market-ing, to quality control personnel in the poultry industry, andto volume food classifying and sorting poultry according to vari-ous groups of conditions and quality poultry carcasses and parts, and certainpoultry products, may be graded for quality according toofficial standards and verifying that ready-to-cook poultry car-casses, parts.

4 And products meet the specific requirementsof a volume food buyer s purchase contract or or other documents issued may include certifi-cation for product condition and temperature, official verifi-cation of net weight, and grade services aid in the nationwide Marketing of poultryand poultry change from time to time as thetypes of products available , most chickensand turkeys reach the market in value-added forms, suchas cut-up parts, boneless and/or skinless cuts, and further-processed products, including ready-to-cook and pre-cooked array of poultry and poultry productscan be found year-round in the fresh and frozen meat sec-tions of the grocery development of grade standards and the identificationand certification of class, quality, quantity, and condition ofagricultural products is authorized by the AgriculturalMarketing Act of 1946 (AMA).

5 Regulations to implementthe AMA were developed in cooperation with State agricul-ture officials, producers, processors, and use of grading and certification services is voluntary;the services are offered on a fee-for- Service apply for Service must also provide the space, equip-ment, lighting, or other facilities that are needed by thegrader or are required by the addition, whengrading is performed in a plant, the plant and its facilitiesmust be approved by ProgramsVoluntary poultry grading and certification services are per-formed by the Poultry Programs of USDA s AgriculturalMarketing Service (AMS).The Programs national officeoversees regional and State offices that supervise gradersstationed across the gradingis usually performed by a graderassigned to a specific processing plant on a full-time orpart-time multiple graders are assigned to a plant,one of them will be designated as the plants process large volumes of eachcarcass or part must be individually graded, plant employ-ees authorized by the resident grader assist in the authorized graders examine and grade thepoultry according to the official quality Grading and Certification Services3dent grader performs final checkgrading and certificationthrough a representative sampling grading costs include an amount equal to thesalary of the resident grader.

6 Plus a charge based on thevolume of product handled in the plant to cover supervisoryand administrative cost per pound of poultry forthis Service is generally little more than that incurred byplants employing their own graders and quality control grading services provided to resident plants are alsoavailable on a temporary plant basis;that is, on an as-needed plant fees are based on the timeneeded to perform the plants must meetall of the minimum facility, operating, and sanitary require-ments specified in the regulations for resident gradingis performed when an applicant requestsgrading of a particular lot of poultry, often for verification ofnet weight, condition, or compliance with other for this type of Service are usuallymade on an irregular basis and the charges are based onthe time needed to perform the fee gradingwork is done at locations other than processing plants,such as distribution facilities or destination agreementsbetween USDA and variousState agencies set forth procedures for the collection anddisbursement of a State Trust Fund agreement .

7 Arrangements for ser- vice are between the State and individual firms, with theconcurrence of are collected by the is reimbursed by the State for Federal supervision ofthe a Federal Trust Fund agreement , applications forservice are between USDA and the individual collected by USDA and the State is paid by USDA forthe costs it incurs performing grading work and Eligible for Grading and CertificationThe kindsof poultry eligible for grading and certificationinclude, but are not limited to, chickens, turkeys, ducks,geese, pigeons, and formmay be as aready-to-cook carcass or part or as a further poultry that is graded or certified must first be to the wholesomeness of poultry and itsfitness for is not concerned with quality or inspection mark means that the poultry has passedexamination by a qualified USDA veterinarian or inspectorduring slaughter and/or slaughter plants aresupervised by a USDA which apply forinspection Service and are accepted are known as officialestablishments.

8 Under the Poultry Products Inspection Act of 1957, USDA provides mandatory Federal inspection of poultry and poul-try products shipped in interstate or foreign Poultry Products Act of 1968 strengthened thatlaw and opened the way for vastly improved State poultryinspection poultry slaughtered for human fooddestined for sale in commerce must be processed, han-dled, packaged, and labeled in accordance with the Actand its Federal inspection Service ,except for overtime and holiday work, is paid for by with inspection systems equal to the Federal pro-gram conduct inspection in plants shipping only within States without such programs, intrastate plantsare also under Federal inspection Service for squab and game birds isprovided under authority of the AMA and the cost is paid bythe of both mandatory and voluntary Federalinspection is the responsibility of USDA s Food Safety andInspection Service (FSIS).

9 After poultry has passed inspection and is ready to begraded or certified, the grader must be sure that it is still ina wholesome poultry that is off-condition (slimy or slippery condition of the skin, putrid orsour odor) is ineligible for addition, ready-to-cook poultry showing other non-acceptable conditions can-not be the grading is done at the processingplant, the poultry must be sent back for thegrading is performed elsewhere, the number of carcassesor parts found with these conditions would be recorded,and the lot would be ineligible for condi-tions include excessive protruding feathers, bruises requir-ing trimming, lungs incompletely removed, parts of the tra-chea present, or extraneous material of any type inside oroutside of the carcass ( , fecal material, blood, grease,gall stains, dirt, metal, wood).

10 Identification MarksLabels bearing the inspection mark are the responsibility regarding the accuracy and use of anylabel bearing the official grademark are handled labels bearing official grade identification are alsoreviewed by AMS to determine accuracy and for inspection mark( ) is required on consumerpackages and shipping containers of poultry inspectedunder the Poultry Products Inspection on Consumer PackagesThe grademarkmust either be printed with light-coloredletters on a dark field ( ) or dark-colored letters on alight field ( ).As an alternative, the grademarkmay have three contrast-ing colored bands ( ) provided the colors, from top tobottom, are blue, white , and color combinationsmay be used with AMS prepared from logo( ), in conjunction with theofficial grademark, may be used for raw, cooked, or further-processed products which have no established grade items include cooked, barbecued, color mari-nated chicken;batter/breaded poultry.