Poultry production data

Fig. 1. Red meat and poultry production in the United States (1). Red meat is based on carcass weight, poultry is based on ready-to-cook weight, and 1991 production is preliminary data. (O) Veal, ( ) beef, (A) chicken, (A) pork, (D) lamb, and (B) turkey.

Thus, it would appear that at present the organic standards have been introduced before all of the scientific data required to make a successful change to sustainable and efficient organic production are available. Currently the relevant data have to be extrapolated from conventional poultry production practices until all of the required data are available. 

Such data can be used to construct a cost-time profile. Bernon et al. (2003) record the process in terms of time and cost for a poultry product from receipt of live bird to delivery of finished product to the retailer. Overall, the process takes an average of 175 hours to complete. The profile shows areas that consume time and cost within the supply chain, highlighting those for future investigation that could yield savings. For example, distribution accounts for 35 per cent of process time, but only 3 per cent of total cost. Slicing and packaging are more in line, since they account for 25 per cent of total cost and are responsible for 28 per cent of the total process time. Figure 3.8 shows the time-cost profile for this process. 

The efficacy of such products in poultry is amply demonstrated by data collected from many studies. In addition to the potential reduction in feeding costs, when including cheap barley supplemented with enzymes, broiler producers have also reported savings in litter costs and fewer carcass downgrades due to hock and breast bums. Similar benefits have been reported for other types of poultry, including laying hens and turkeys. 

Complete, detailed proposed use patterns for the product, including dose rate, regimen, and proposed withholding period data showing the nature, level and safety of residues and metabolites in livestock and poultry... 

These data suggest that processed meats (e.g., hot dogs, bologna, and salami) contain more chemicals than muscle products (e.g., steak or chicken breast). This could be a function of the fat content of these processed meats. In general, beef products are more contaminated than pork products, whereas poultry have very few contaminants. Clearly, there appears to be some correlation between the amount of fat in protein products and the occurrence of synthetic chemicals in a given product. The number of chemical contaminates in fish may also be correlated to the occurrence of fatty acids. For example, salmon and tuna are known to have more fatty acids than haddock. Therefore, it is expected that salmon would contain more contaminants than haddock. 

If a pesticide is to be applied to livestock, or will result in residues in the feed of livestock, the possibility of residues in meat, milk, poultry, and eggs arises. Data on metabolism, analytical methods, and level of residue in animal food products are needed in those cases. The same considerations of identification of the terminal residue and developing analytical methods suitable for enforcement mentioned previously also apply to residues in animal products. The tolerances for animal products are based on the tolerances on the animal feed items, the significance of those feed items in the diet of livestock, and the potential... 

Variability may be higher in organic grains than in conventional grains, because of the fertilizer practices in organic grain production, but the data are inadequate at present. Cereal by-products tend to be more variable than the grains therefore, their use in poultry diets may have to be limited to achieve consistency of the formulations. 

Some producers wish to use formulas devised by others. Unfortunately there is no readily available source of satisfactory feed formulas that can be recommended to organic producers. However, some formulas are available in the published literature from several countries, examples of which are shown below. In some cases these provide details of the production results when the diets were fed to poultry. Some of the formulas provide information on analysed as well as calculated nutrient data, but only the calculated values have been included below since these values are of main interest for formulation purposes. 

The zinc level of the U.S. food supply has fluctuated between 11 and 13 mg per capita per day since 1909. These determinations, made for the first time In 1980, were based on U.S. Department of Agriculture Information data on annual per capita food use and data on the zinc content of food. Early In the century, zinc was provided In almost equal proportions by foods of animal and vegetable origin whereas. In recent decades, animal products have provided approximately 70 percent. Three food groups—meat, poultry, fish dairy products and grain products—account for 75-80 percent of the zinc but, over the years, the proportion contributed by grain products has declined, and that contributed by dairy products and especially by the meat, poultry, fish group has Increased. 

Analysing the sales data by species (Figure 2) reveals that the cattle and companion animal sectors account for nearly 75% of pharmaceutical sales. Of these two, companion animal sales are growing fast. The limited commercial opportunities in the poultry and sheep markets will strongly influence future product development for these sectors. 

Data on mineral feeds for livestock and poultry and sundry ingredients contained in such feeds are collected by the National Mineral Feeds Association, Inc., of Des Moines. Production and sales figures are available annually to members, and a survey of individual ingredients used has been initiated. 

Similar results have been obtained in recent investigations of benzo[a]pyrene concentrations in smoked foods in other countries. In Brazil. benzo[a]pyrene was detected in 52% (23/44) of smoked meat samples concentrations ranged from 0.1 to 5.9 p/kg and were generally <1.0 pg/kg (Yabiku et al. 1993). In France, benzo[a]pyrene concentrations in smoked fish, poultry, and pork products were found to range from <0.2 to 1.9. 0.3 to 1.9, and <0.2 to 7.2 p/kg, respectively 36% (26/71) of the samples analyzed had benzo[a]pyrene concentrations >1 pg/kg (Moll et al. 1993). Because many imported food products are included in the U.S. food supply, these data may be relevant to estimating dietary PAH exposures ofthe general U.S. population. 

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