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Title: ECONOMIC FEASIBILITY ANALYSIS FOR AN AUTOMATED ON-LINE POULTRY INSPECTION TECHNOLOGY

Author
item Watkins, Kenton - Brad
item Lu, Yao
item Chen, Yud
item GWOZDZ, FRANK - USDA/FSIS

Submitted to: Poultry Science
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/30/1999
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: This study evaluates the economic feasibility of using automated poultry inspection in place of visual inspection from the perspective of both the slaughter plant and the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS). Current poultry inspection in the United States is done using visual methods. FSIS inspectors visually inspect poultry carcasses at a postmortem inspection station. Two visual inspection systems are used: the Streamlined Inspection System and the New Line Speed Inspection System. The Streamlined Inspection System has a line speed of 70 birds per minute using two inspectors per line, while the New Line Speed Inspection System has a line speed of 91 birds per minute using three inspectors per line. Both methods are very labor intensive and prone to human error. Also, slaughter line speeds are limited by the speed of visual inspection. Under current Federal regulations, 91 birds per minute is the maximum visual inspection line speed. The Machine Vision Inspection System developed by the USDA-ARS Instrumentation and Sensing Laboratory in Beltsville, Maryland, offers great potential to increase the overall efficiency of both poultry carcass inspection and slaughter line operation. The system could reduce the amount of labor required for individual carcass inspection, increase inspection line speeds beyond 91 birds per minute, and eliminate inspector errors. The results indicate that both FSIS and slaughter plants would gain economic benefits by using automated inspection in place of visual inspection. The economic benefits to FSIS would accrue from labor savings, while the the economic benefits to slaughter plants would accrue primarily from increased throughput resulting from faster inspection line speeds.

Technical Abstract: On-line carcass inspection of chickens in the United States is currently done using visual (organoleptic) methods. Inspectors from the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) inspect the viscera, carcass, and for older birds, the head using a sequence of observations and palpations at a postmortem inspection station. The Streamlined Inspection System (SIS) and the New Line Speed Inspection System (NELS) are the most prevalent visual inspection methods. The former has a line speed of 70 birds per minute using two inspectors per line, while the latter has a line speed of 91 birds per minute requiring three inspectors per line. Both inspection methods are labor intensive and prone to human error. In addition, the speed of the slaughter line is dictated by the number of birds per minute that can be inspected by FSIS inspectors. Ninety-one birds per minute is currently the maximum visual inspection line speed allowed under current Federal regulations. This study evaluates the economic benefits of using automated inspection in place of visual inspection from the perspective of both the slaughter plant and FSIS. The results indicate that both FSIS and slaughter plants would gain economic benefits by using automated inspection in place of visual inspection. The economic benefits to FSIS would accrue from labor savings, while the economic benefits to slaughter plants would accrue primarily from increased throughput from faster inspection line speeds.