Regulations in Poultry Meat Processing

Global production of poultry meat has been growing steadily since 2012, reaching record numbers in recent years (USDA 2017). Poultry is currently the second highest-consumed meat worldwide, and its global demand is projected to increase faster than other common meat types (USDA 2017). According to reports by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA 2017), the USA is the largest producer of broiler meat, accounting for more than 20% of all poultry production followed by Brazil, the European Union, and China. Furthermore, poultry meat has become an essential part of the diet among consumers in the USA, as the per capita consumption has doubled since 1980 (NCC 2017). This significant increase in consumption coupled with intensified production and processing practices has placed poultry as the most common food in disease outbreaks with confirmed pathogens in the USA (Chai et al. 2017).