NOBULL: State launches poultry inspection program, mobile slaughter unit
Posted in Daily
By Meatingplace Editors on 1/3/2014
The Connecticut Department of Agriculture has established an inspection program for poultry producersto operate as a small poultry slaughter facility exempt from continuous USDA inspection and also will build a mobile slaughter unit.
“It is hoped that the Connecticut Small Poultry Processor Inspection Program will help provide participating producers a steadier income stream and will encourage more producers to take advantage of opportunities to market poultry products to restaurants and retail establishments. More and more consumers are demanding foods they perceive as more sustainable and local,” the agency said.
Poultry inspected through the program can be marketed as from an “approved food source” directly to retail establishments. The state’s House of Representatives and Senate passed a provision to add retail sales to the law and Gov. Dannel Mallow signed it during the 2013 legislative session.
Mobile slaughter
To further promote poultry production and sales, the Connecticut Department of Agriculture and USDA’s Farm Service Agency partnered with the Connecticut Poultry Association to provide grants for construction of a mobile poultry slaughter unit. The goal of the unit is to make it easier for small poultry producers to qualify birds for sale into retail and foodservice establishments, the agency said.
The federal Poultry Products Inspection Act (PPIA) allows exemptions to continuous inspection. These products can enter intrastate commerce but are not permitted to move interstate.
Connecticut’s Public Act 10-103 requires poultry slaughter operations that supply poultry products to household consumers, restaurants, hotels and boarding houses to meet the requirements of the federal PPIA and any applicable provision of the Code of Federal Regulations.
The Connecticut Department of Agriculture inspects each poultry slaughter facility participating in the Small Poultry Processor Inspection Program at least once a year. The inspection follows the requirements of the PPIA, including an audit of the HACCP system and an evaluation of the sanitation, sanitary practices, food-handling equipment design and construction, handling of animals, record keeping and water supply.