Intervention techniques for reducing carcass contamination

In a method for processing poultry comprising the steps of scalding, picking, eviscerating, washing, rinsing and chilling said poultry using an aqueous medium, the improvement comprising the steps of:

• controlling the pH level of the aqueous medium to a range of 6 and 8 through acidification prior to or concurrent with the addition of the disinfection agent to the aqueous medium;
• recovering at least a portion of the aqueous medium from the chilling step;
• filtering said recovered aqueous medium to remove particulate matter;
• and
• reusing said filtered recovered aqueous medium in the chilling step.

A method for reducing the level of poultry contamination resulting from the processing of poultry, wherein the processing includes the steps of scalding, picking, eviscerating, washing and rinsing said poultry, the method for reducing the level of poultry contamination comprising the steps of:

• adding a disinfectant to process water used in said processing steps;
• controlling the pH level of said disinfected process water to a range of 6 and 8;
• and
• using said disinfected process water at each of said processing steps, thereby reducing the level of contamination of the poultry at each of said processing steps.

A method for reducing the level of poultry contamination resulting from the processing of poultry, wherein the processing of said poultry includes the steps of scalder, picker, post-pick, washer, rinsing and chilling, the method comprising the steps of:

• recovering water used during at least one of said poultry processing steps;
• treating said recovered water with a disinfectant and controlling the pH of said recovered water to a range between 6 and 8 to reduce microorganisms therein;
• and
• reintroducing said treated water into at least one heated processing step which uses heated water, whereby the combination of said treated water and said heated water reduces the level of microorganisms within said poultry.

A system for reducing the level of poultry contamination resulting from poultry processing including the steps of scalder, picker, post-pick, washer, rinsing and chilling, the system including a water reuse and disinfection method, the water reuse method comprising the steps of:

• recovering water used during at least one of said poultry processing steps;
• treating said recovered water with a disinfectant to reduce the level of microorganisms therein;
• and
• reintroducing said treated water into at least one of said poultry processing steps which uses heated water;
• the disinfection method comprising the steps of:
• adding a disinfectant to water used in said poultry processing steps;
• controlling the pH level of said disinfected water to a range between 6 and 8;
• and
• using said disinfected water in said at least one of said poultry processing steps which uses heated water, whereby the combination of said reuse water, said heated water and said disinfected water in said poultry processing steps reduces the level of microorganisms within said poultry.