Meat+Poultry - June 2019 - 53

P

roducing healthy, wholesome chickens for
the poultry market goes beyond the quality
of the meat that's sold in restaurants and
at retail. Many poultry companies are making
the welfare of broilers during the timeframe
they are being raised a top priority. As a result,
practices on the farm are being considered and
adjusted accordingly to keep animal welfare
at the forefront. Consumer demand for better
animal welfare is helping drive this change for
farm animals.

Meyn Food Processing Technology

ON THE BANDWAGON
In the broiler industry, controlled atmosphere
stunning (CAS) is an emerging technology
designed to lower stress in animals before
evisceration. Birds are transported in a cage
or crate into an area where the oxygen is
removed from their immediate surroundings
and replaced with an asphyxiant gas or carbon
dioxide (CO2). As more technology suppliers
have included CAS as an option, a growing
number of processors are implementing it at
their facilities.
In February 2018, Perdue Farms announced
an investment of more than $15 million at its
Milford, Delaware, poultry plant on a CAS
system, in addition to a live-bird handling
process that the company said will be the first
of its kind in the US.
Perdue has committed to converting all its
poultry-slaughtering plants to CAS systems
to replace the more traditional method,
electrical stunning.
"Since implementing the CAS system,
we're seeing measurable poultry welfare
improvements throughout the process, as
well as improvements in product quality. Our
technology uses both carbon dioxide and
oxygen in the mix, which creates less stress
on the birds as they go through the chambers,"
said Bruce Stewart-Brown, DVM, senior vice
president of food safety, quality and live
production at Perdue. "The difference is night
and day."
Perdue's Milford facility supplies 1.2 million
organic and no-antibiotics-ever chickens per
week for Perdue's brands including its Perdue
Harvestland and Coleman Organic lines.
In addition to the CAS system, Perdue is
investing in a live-bird handling system. In
this process, covered trucks will transport the
birds in crates to an enclosed, temperature-

controlled, "de-stressing" area prior to
processing, the company said. "The transport
crates are then transferred to the CAS system,
so the birds stay calm and are never handled
when conscious." Perdue's CAS and live-bird
handling system was fully operational in
fall 2018.
"We've been working very hard the last
few years to improve the conditions under
which our animals are raised," said Jim Perdue,
chairman of Perdue Farms.
In March 2018, officials with Cargill Protein
announced the investment of approximately
$17 million to replace its electric stunning
equipment with a CAS system at its London,
Ontario-based chicken processing plant.
Cargill was an early adopter of CAS with the
implementation of the technology at its turkeyprocessing plant more than 10 years ago.
A growing number of processors are
investing in CAS to enhance animal welfare
practices and in response to customers
recognizing it as a more humane method
of slaughtering while ensuring the safety of
workers and maximizing the quality of the
poultry products.
"As we grow our business to meet
consumer and customer demand for
wholesome, nutritious, affordable
animal protein, we continuously explore
enhancements that position us as an industry
leader in both animal welfare and protein
production," said Claudecir Pagnussatto,
general manager at the London plant. "Our new
CAS system will help reduce handling stress
with chickens, resulting in a higher-quality,
more consistent product."
This past August, Maple Leaf Foods
announced a $28 million investment to
transition its Edmonton poultry processing
facility to CAS technology. Incorporating a new
system will include a 26,000-sq.-ft. expansion at
the Edmonton facility, which is expected to be
completed by the end of 2019.   
"Controlled atmosphere stunning provides
many advantages to animal welfare, ensuring
chickens are fully unconscious and humanely
euthanized, while greatly reducing stress,"
according to Greg Douglas, DVM, vice president
of animal care. "This technology, which we have
also installed at our pork processing facility
in Manitoba, is acknowledged as a best practice
around the world."

"Since
implementing
the CAS system,
we're seeing
measurable
poultry welfare
improvements
throughout the
process."
- BRUCE STEWART-BROWN

Controlled atmosphere
stunning cages eliminate
the need to shackle live
birds before stunning,
which improves the
welfare of the animal
during slaughtering
procedures.

www.meatpoultry.com | 06.19 | MEAT+ POULTRY

53
http://www.meatpoultry.com
Meat+Poultry - June 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Meat+Poultry - June 2019
