Interesting article regarding commercially raised meat chickens in US

[Andi]

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I'm sorry, Bossroo, that your request for learning has been missed amongst all the heightened talk of industrial poultry farming.

What? I don't get your laughter. Bossroo asked twice how you process safely. You didn't give him an answer, so I did. What's funny about that?

 

[Buster52]

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What? I don't get your laughter. Bossroo asked twice how you process safely. You didn't give him an answer, so I did. What's funny about that?

Oh. Sorry. I thought your response was tongue in cheek. I really did. The Bossman has been around for a long time and knows his way around chickens. He has probably even processed one or two in his day.

 

[Andi]

I wouldn't have known that. Just trying to be helpful.

 

[WalkingWolf]

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None taken.

But you should raise and process your own. Not only does it taste better, it is better for you, not to mention gives you a tremendous sense of satisfaction.

Buster I do raise and process my own, it is one of those freedoms that I enjoy, but I have the option to buy from somebody else, and I am lucky that I have friends in the industry and have the knowledge of how they do business. My friend who is the plant manager for Purdue, has been very helpful to me on issues. When I first started raising ducks he identified a disease for me, and gave me the instructions for treatment to save the ducks life. The people running these plants in most cases have very high education and specialized in poultry or livestock industry. The workers on the line may not but they are supervised well, and have a watchful eye over their shoulder.

The poultry may encounter poop during the raising process in the chicken houses, but as another member said they pull their food at least 24 hours before transportation to the processing plant. There is no more poop in the culling and preparation and more than likely less than what most would have at home. We can get away with less precautions as we are preparing the chicken when cooking and take responsibility that it is cooked in a safe fashion. Sellers of poultry products do not have this opinion of controlling the cooking process so they take every opportunity to make sure the chicken is safe when it leaves their control. I prefer to eat my own chicken for reasons of pride and self sufficiency and flavor. But I would feel perfectly safe eating chicken from at least these plants I have visited. Unless you have personally witnessed or have reliable proof of poop on the chicken in these plants it is unfair to claim such. There are far better reasons for raising our own than to rely on rumors.

 

[Brunty_Farms]

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That was kind of my question a few (dozen) pages ago when I asked about the similarities between me brining my birds in salt v/s them using chlorine.
If the birds are just dunked briefly it is COMPLETELY different than soaking in salt brine.

And they are only in the water very briefly, those same regulations limit the time between culling and refrigeration. They are not rested in chlorine but in sealed containers or packaging at a temperature of 28f or below. Many times when receiving chicken from tyson, purdue, townsend, or many of the other factory operations the chickens are actually frozen because they do not want to get caught with their pants down by a inspector with the temp to high. The chlorine is only used to kill external bacteria after processing before refrigeration. Some people need to get a grip, but keep in mind some people make a living off of chickens not in the factory farming industry, you better bet they are using chlorine even if they make a fuss about the factories using it. If they don't and a consumer dies they WILL go to jail if there is intent.

Don't get me wrong I am not a proponent of factory farming, I think it belongs in the hands of people who care. But this is supposed to be a free country and that means freedom for the factory owners too. Where I have a problem is laws limiting our freedom to raise what we want to raise, not with all this other petty bovine scatology. There is a conspiracy in government to limit personal accountability, but with that there is a responsibility to maintain standards or get caught with their pants down and suffer the consequences of others caught with their pants down. I wish people would put as much energy into securing freedoms instead of trying to interfere with others freedom.

I don't soak mine in Chlorine... never have. I have yet to see one person get sick from my chickens. Honestly, I have yet to hear one case NATION wide of someone getting sick from a pasture raised chickens. For one the bacteria isn't even present in pasture raised chickens. Since the deadly bacteria is in the feces.... the only way to get contamination is to get feces on the carcass. Since pastured poultry don't sit in their feces all there life and are moved a few times a day they never get exposed to the bacteria. Also since eviscerating is done by hand and not by machines the cuts are more precise and the care to not spill feces on the carcass is way greater than a machine. It's quality, hands down you get better quality when you do less. There is no need for Chlorine... to me its a waste of money and time.

I agree with Buster, the food system is broke... no debating that. However I do think that they are not going away for a long time, way too much money involved. That's what makes this country so great. You want to buy industrialized food.... great.... if you want to support sustainable agriculture... kudos to you! I think it's funny that on this forum people get bashed for supporting one or the other. I really don't care and don't lose much sleep over it... but it seems many do.

 

[WalkingWolf]

There should be no bashing of either side, I see nothing wrong with small farming, I see nothing wrong with selling a product as long as it is done in a responsible manner. Doing it at home for yourself is much different from doing it for someone you do not know. I personally would never buy any meat from a processor that does not follow mandated safety regulations and is not inspected on a regular basis displaying the inspection score. The rest of you do what you feel is right, your body, your life, your gamble.

We use bleach everywhere in the house for sanitation, in the proper amount. A sanitizer solution is maintained in each bathroom and the kitchen. Hands are washed and rinsed in sanitizer. I have not had the flu or cold in years, maybe it is just luck, maybe not. Like many people I have a allergy to mold and mildew, not to chlorine. I also have a allergy to food poisoning as most of us do. Prefer to be safe than sorry.

Now as far as Putin is concerned I see his actions as a power play to keep the trade balance uneven rather than any actual safety problems with chlorine.

 

[Bossroo]

Bacteria , both good and bad, is present in every corner of the air, soil, water, bird of the air, and beast of the earth and even inside and outside of you and me on this planet. The immune system evolved in animals to fight off the bad pathogen bacteria or all life as we know it would not exist. The claim that any pathogenic bacteria doesn't exist in pastured poultry is simply sophomoristic. The chicken eats a bug or a speck of feces from a wild bird, mammal or slug, etc. that is a vector or contaminated feces washed down the hill in water and deposited on a blade of grass and bingo you have one contaminated chicken. A chicken has been known to take a dust bath or just plain walks across some grass or dirt and if the dirt is contaminated with a pathogen and happens to scratch itself with that leg, then preans it's feathers again bingo there is one contaminated chicken. Even One slip of a knife at any point it time when eviserating just might be the next time one does the deed and contamination occurs. It could be just a nick of the gut or while pulling out the intestines with one's hand and a slight tear occurs and one may not even see any feces, or even while pushing one's hand into the chicken's cavity and a small amount of feces comes out of it's rectum and onto one's hand a pathogen escapes onto the carcass. Nicking with the knife or tearing the crop while trying to remove it, and again bingo, one contaminated bird. If one hasn't had a case of illness consider that just plain luck. If one doesn't use a disinfectant while processing poultry, or any animal for that matter, and sells to the public, One would be well advised to carry a HUGE liabilty, errors, and ommissions insurance policy and be prepared to do some sereous jail time..

 

[CARS]

I cook my meat too. That's got to help me avoid getting sick

 

[WalkingWolf]

"If one doesn't use a disinfectant while processing poultry, or any animal for that matter, and sells to the public, One would be well advised to carry a HUGE liabilty, errors, and ommissions insurance policy and be prepared to do some sereous jail time.."

Jail time comes into play when someone intentionally disregards safe food handling... Accidental contamination would result in a big lawsuit though. Selling to the public without inspection and following safe guidelines would be considered intent IMHO and would land a person in jail should someone get ill and it is traced back to them.​

 

[bigredfeather]

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I would agree all of these things are possible during home processing, but even if a home processed bird where to become contaminated, that doesn't mean someone is going to get sick. Proper cooking will kill any contamination. Despite fecal factories using things to eliminate contamination, they can still be contaminated. I have read several Consumer Reports that give the stats on grocery store birds that are highly contaminated with salmonella and campylobacter, despite the safeguards you say we lack at home. So if this is the case, what's the difference?