Influence of Oily Bird Syndrome on the Shelf-Life of Fresh Ice-Packed Broilers

Processed ready-to-cook broiler carcasses were obtained from a commercial poultry processing plant on three separate occasions. The birds were identified at the plant as being either normal or as exhibiting the appearance and feel of birds exhibiting the phenomena collectively termed as "oily bird syndrome" (OBS). The carcasses were packed in ice, transported to the Food Science Department, University of Georgia, held on ice for 24 h and individually bagged and stored under retail conditions at 2°C. At 2, 8, 14 and 20 days postmortem, the birds were examined microbiologically for total plate counts and observed for evidence of spoilage. No consistent trends could be ascertained to indicate that birds exhibiting OBS would have higher total bacterial numbers or shorter shelf-life. Thus, it would appear that birds exhibiting OBS would pose no problems regarding initial microbial loads, microbial growth rates or reduced fresh shelf-life as compared to carcasses not exhibiting OBS.