Fecal leakage and contamination control during poultry processing

In a method for processing live poultry to provide a poultry meat product, said method comprising the steps of:

• slaughtering the live poultry;
• scalding the slaughtered poultry;
• suctioning the cloaca and lower intestines of the poultry to remove fecal material;
• mechanically de-feathering the poultry in at least one de-feathering stage including an initial mechanical de-feathering stage;
• and
• eviscerating the de-feathered poultry;
• the improvement comprising:
• sealing the cloacal vent opening in situ with a curable adhesive sealing composition before said eviscerating step and only after at least said initial mechanical de-feathering stage to prevent rupturing of gut tissue during de-feathering with mechanical pickers and to substantially prevent leakage of fecal material from the vent opening during subsequent processing.

In a semi-automated apparatus for processing a live poultry animal to provide a poultry meat product including:

• a slaughtering station having slaughtering means whereat the poultry animal is slaughtered to provide a freshly slaughtered carcass;
• a scalding station having a vessel with a high temperature, aqueous scalding bath and means for submerging the freshly slaughtered bird carcass into said scalding bath to provide a scalded bird carcass;
• a plucking station having at least one mechanical plucking assembly whereat the scalded bird carcass is mechanically plucked and de-feathered;
• an eviscerating station including cutter means and viscera removal means whereat the plucked carcass is cut and its viscera are removed from the plucked carcass;
• a washing station whereat the eviscerated carcass is rinsed and washed to provide a clean carcass;
• and
• carcass conveyor means for successively indexing the freshly slaughtered carcass from one station to the next station in the processing apparatus;
• the improvement comprising:
• said apparatus further including a sealing station disposed upstream of the eviscerating station and only downstream of said mechanical plucking assembly to thereby prevent rupturing of gut tissue which otherwise occurs at said plucking station when said sealing station is disposed upstream of the mechanical plucking assembly, said sealing station having applicator means for applying a curable adhesive composition to the cloacal vent opening of the carcass, the adhesive composition being curable to form a cured, firmly-adherent cloacal vent seal,
• whereby, leakage of fecal material from the vent opening of the carcass at downstream work stations is substantially reduced or prevented.