(a) Operations and procedures involving the processing, other handling, or storing of any poultry product must be strictly in accord with clean and sanitary practices and must be conducted in a manner that will result in sanitary processing, proper inspection, and the production of poultry and poultry products that are not adulterated.

(b) Poultry must be slaughtered in accordance with good commercial practices in a manner that will result in thorough bleeding of the carcasses and ensure that breathing has stopped prior to scalding. Blood from the killing operation must be confined to a relatively small area.

(c) When thawing frozen ready-to-cook poultry in water, the establishment must use methods that prevent adulteration of, or net weight gain by, the poultry.

(d) The water used in washing the poultry must be permitted to drain freely from the body cavity.

(e) Detached ova may be collected for human food and handled only in accordance with 9 CFR 590.44 and may leave the establishment only to be moved to an official egg product processing plant for processing. Ova from condemned carcasses must be condemned and treated as required in § 381.95.

(f) Procedures for controlling visible fecal contamination. Official poultry slaughter establishments must develop, implement, and maintain written procedures to ensure that poultry carcasses contaminated with visible fecal material do not enter the chiller. Establishments must incorporate these procedures into their HACCP plans, or sanitation SOPs, or other prerequisite programs.

(g) Procedures for controlling contamination throughout the slaughter and dressing operation. Official poultry slaughter establishments must develop, implement, and maintain written procedures to prevent contamination of carcasses and parts by enteric pathogens and fecal contamination throughout the entire slaughter and dressing operation. Establishments must incorporate these procedures into their HACCP plans, or sanitation SOPs, or other prerequisite programs. At a minimum, these procedures must include sampling and analysis for microbial organisms in accordance with the sampling location and frequency requirements in paragraphs (g)(1) and (2) of this section to monitor their ability to maintain process control.

(1) Sampling locations. Establishments, except for very small establishments operating under Traditional Inspection or very low volume establishments operating under Traditional Inspection must collect and analyze samples for microbial organisms at the pre-chill and post-chill points in the process. Very small establishments operating under Traditional Inspection and very low volume establishments operating under Traditional Inspection must collect and analyze samples for microbial organisms at the post-chill point in the process.

(i) Very small establishments are establishments with fewer than 10 employees or annual sales of less than $2.5 million.

(ii) Very low volume establishments annually slaughter no more than 440,000 chickens, 60,000 turkeys, 60,000 ducks, 60,000 geese, 60,000 guineas, or 60,000 squabs.

(2) Sampling frequency. (i) Establishments, except for very low volume establishments as defined in paragraph (g)(1)(ii) of this section, must, at a minimum, collect and analyze samples at a frequency proportional to the establishment's volume of production at the following rates:

(A) Chickens. Once per 22,000 carcasses, but a minimum of once during each week of operation.

(B) Turkeys, ducks, geese, guineas, and squabs. Once per 3,000 carcasses, but at a minimum once each week of operation.

(ii) Very low volume establishments as defined in paragraph (g)(1)(ii) of this section must collect and analyze samples at least once during each week of operation starting June 1 of every year. If, after consecutively collecting 13 weekly samples, a very low volume establishment can demonstrate that it is effectively maintaining process control, it may modify its sampling plan.

(iii) Establishments must sample at a frequency that is adequate to monitor their ability to maintain process control for enteric pathogens. Establishments must maintain accurate records of all test results and retain these records as provided in paragraph (h) of this section.

(h) Recordkeeping requirements. Official poultry slaughter establishments must maintain daily records sufficient to document the implementation and monitoring of the procedures required under paragraph (g) of this section. Records required by this section may be maintained on computers if the establishment implements appropriate controls to ensure the integrity of the electronic data. Records required by this section must be maintained for at least one year and must be accessible to FSIS.

(a) General. Temperatures and procedures that are necessary for chilling and freezing ready-to-cook poultry, including all edible portions thereof, must be in accordance with operating procedures that ensure the prompt removal of the animal heat, preserve the condition and wholesomeness of the poultry, and assure that the products are not adulterated.

(b) Chilling performance standards, except for ratites. (1)(i) Each official poultry slaughter establishment must ensure that all poultry carcasses, parts, and giblets are chilled immediately after slaughter operations so that there is no outgrowth of pathogens, unless such poultry is to be frozen or cooked immediately at the official establishment.

(ii) Previously chilled poultry carcasses and major portions must be kept chilled so that there is no outgrowth of the pathogens, unless such poultry is to be packed and frozen immediately at the official establishment.

(2) After product has been chilled, the establishment must prevent the outgrowth of pathogens on the product as long as the product remains at the establishment.

(3) The establishment must develop, implement, and maintain written procedures for chilling that address, at a minimum, the potential for pathogen outgrowth, the conditions affecting carcass chilling, and when its chilling process is completed. The establishment must incorporate these procedures into its HACCP plan, or sanitation SOP, or other prerequisite program.

(c) Ice and water chilling. (1) Only ice produced from potable water may be used for ice and water chilling, except that water and ice used for chilling may be reused in accordance with § 416.2(g). The ice must be handled and stored in a sanitary manner.

(2)(i) Poultry chilling equipment must be operated in a manner consistent with meeting the applicable pathogen reduction performance standards for raw poultry products as set forth in § 381.94 and the provisions of the establishment's HACCP plan.

(ii) Major portions of poultry carcasses, as defined in § 381.170(b)(22), may be chilled in water and ice.

(d) Water absorption and retention. (1) Poultry washing, chilling, and draining practices and procedures must be such as will minimize water absorption and retention at time of packaging.

(2) The establishment must provide scales, weights, identification devices, and other supplies necessary to conduct water tests.

(e) Air chilling. Air chilling is the method of chilling raw poultry carcasses and parts predominately with air. An antimicrobial intervention may be applied with water at the beginning of the chilling process, provided that its use does not result in any net pick-up of water or moisture during the chilling process. The initial antimicrobial intervention may result in some temperature reduction of the product, provided that the majority of temperature removal is accomplished exclusively by chilled air.

(f) Freezing. (1) Ready-to-cook poultry which is to be or is labeled with descriptive terms such as “fresh frozen,” “quick frozen” or “frozen fresh” or any other term implying a rapid change from a fresh state to a frozen state shall be placed into a freezer within 48 hours after initial chilling in accordance with paragraph (b) of this section. During this period, if such poultry is not immediately placed into a freezer after chilling and packaging, it shall be held at 36 °F. or lower.

(2) Ready-to-cook poultry shall be frozen in a manner so as to bring the internal temperature of the birds at the center of the package to 0 °F. or below within 72 hours from the time of entering the freezer. Such procedures shall not apply to raw poultry product described in § 381.129(b)(6)(i) of this subchapter.

(3) Upon written request, and under such conditions as may be prescribed by the Administrator, in specific cases, ready-to-cook poultry which is to be frozen immediately may be moved from the official establishment prior to freezing: Provided, That the plant and freezer are so located and such necessary arrangements are made that the Inspection Service will have access to the freezing room and adequate opportunity to determine compliance with the time and temperature requirements specified in paragraph (f)(2) of this section.

(4) Warm packaged ready-to-cook poultry which is to be chilled by immediate entry into a freezer within the official establishment shall within 2 hours from time of slaughter be placed in a plate freezer or a freezer with a functioning circulating air system where a temperature of −10 °F. or lower is maintained.

(5) Frozen poultry shall be held under conditions which will maintain the product in a solidly frozen state with temperature maintained as constant as possible under good commercial practice.

The maximum number of birds to be inspected by each inspector per minute under the traditional inspection procedure for the different young chicken and squab slaughter line configurations are specified in the following table. These maximum rates will not be exceeded. The inspector in charge will be responsible for reducing production line rates where in the inspector's judgment the prescribed inspection procedure cannot be adequately performed within the time available, either because the birds are not presented by the official establishment in such a manner that the carcasses, including both internal and external surfaces and all organs, are readily accessible for inspection, or because the health conditions of a particular flock dictate a need for a more extended inspection procedure. The standards in 381.170(a) of this part specify which classes of birds constitute young chickens and squabs. Section 381.76(b) specifies when either the traditional inspection procedure or the modified traditional inspection procedure can or must be used.

(a) The maximum inspection rates for one inspector New Turkey Inspection (NTI-1 and NTI-1 Modified) and two inspectors New Turkey Inspection (NTI-2 and NTI-2 Modified) are listed in the table below. The line speeds for NTI-1 and NTI-2 are for lines using standard 9-inch shackles on 12-inch centers with birds hung on every shackle and opened with J-type or Bar-type opening cuts. The line speeds for NTI-1 Modified and NTI-2 Modified are for Bar-type cut turkey lines using a shackle with a 4-inch by 4-inch selector (or kickout), a 45 degree bend of the lower 2 inches, an extended central loop portion of the shackle that lowers the abdominal cavity opening of the carcasses to an angle of 30 degrees from the vertical in direct alignment with the inspector's view, and a width of 10.5 inches. Maximum rates for those establishments having varying configurations will be established by the Administrator but will not exceed those in the table. Neither the rates in the table nor those established for establishments with varying configurations shall be exceeded under any circumstances.

(b) There are two categories of turkeys for determining inspection rates, “light turkeys” and “heavy turkeys”. Light turkeys are all turkeys weighing less than 16 pounds. Heavy turkeys are all turkeys weighing 16 pounds or more. The weights refer to the bird at the point of post-mortem inspection, with blood, feathers and feet removed.

(c) The inspector in charge may reduce inspection line rates when in his/her judgment the prescribed inspection procedure cannot be adequately performed within the time available because the health conditions of a particular flock or other factors, including the manner in which birds are being presented to the inspector for inspection and the level of contamination among the birds on the line, dictate a need for a more extended inspection.

(a) The maximum line speed for young chicken slaughter establishments that operate under the New Poultry Inspection System is 140 birds per minute.

(b) The maximum line speed for turkey slaughter establishments that operate under the New Poultry Inspection System is 55 birds per minute.

(c) Notwithstanding paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section, establishments that operate under the New Poultry Inspection System must reduce their line speed as directed by inspectors-in-charge. Inspectors-in-charge are authorized to direct establishments to operate at a reduced line speed when in their judgment a carcass-by-carcass inspection cannot be adequately performed within the time available due to the manner in which the birds are presented to the online carcass inspector, the health conditions of a particular flock, or factors that may indicate a loss of process control.

(d) Establishments operating under the line speed limits authorized in this section shall comply with all other applicable requirements of the laws, including, but not limited to, 29 U.S.C. 654(a).