Source: Dani Friedland, MEATINGPLACE, 11/18/11

USPoultry and its foundation have completed a research project at North Carolina State University focusing on the detection of bone and physical hazard contamination of boneless broiler meat.

The clavicle is the most likely source of bone fragments in skinless chicken fillets, and although small fragments are not a safety hazard according to the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), larger fragments may cause injury.

X-ray imaging is the current method for detecting bone fragments, but researchers used hyperspectral (HS) imaging to determine if this alternative method would be useful in identifying bone, bone fragments and other physical hazards in poultry meat.

Fillets were compressed to a thickness of 1 centimeter for studying the fusion of HS transmittance and reflective imaging, which is a non-ionized and non-destructive imaging technique. Experimental results with fillets resulted in a detection accuracy of 100 percent for bones greater than 2 centimeters in length.

For a detailed summary of the research, click here.
 

For more stories, go to www.meatingplace.com.