Young fowl can be identified by their smaller, softer features compared to old fowl. Young fowl have smooth skin and down feathers while old fowl have rough skin and visible feather follicles. Young fowl have a broad breast and small vent, while old fowl have a distended abdomen, hardened breast bone, and large extended vent. Poultry are inspected for signs of disease and aged based on physical characteristics to determine suitability for consumption.

1. Poultry Meat
Inspection

2. Identification and aging of fowl
Young fowl
Old fowl
Poorly developed,
lighter in colour
Small, under
developed
Soft, pliable
Well developed,
bright red
Well developed
Hard, rigid
Head
Comb
Wattles
Beak

3. Young fowl
Old fowl
-Smooth
-down feathers visible
-Rough
-feather follicles
easily visible
-hair like feather
visible on back of the
bird
Skin

4. Young fowl
Old fowl
-Broad, well-fleshed breast
-No distention of abdomen
-Cartilaginous end of breast
bone (xyphoid), soft, pliable
-Small vent
-Sharply protrudes
(hatchshaped breast)
-Distended abdomen, large
fat deposited
-Fully ossified beast bone,
hard
-Large and extended vent
Body shape
-Abdomen
-Breast bone
Vent

5. Young fowl
Old fowl
-scales soft, smooth
-Smaller feet
-Shorter and softer
-scales hard, coarse
-larger feet
-Larger and harder
Legs
Feet
Claws

6. Sexual characteristics
Female
Male
absent
Present (small batch of coarse black
hair at the base of the neck(
Brush
smaller
Longer, thicker
Snood
Less well developed
More developed
Wattles
Smoother
Has more wrinkled
appearance
Neck skin
Only super buds
On legs (older male)
Spurs
Go up the back of the neck to
the base of the skull
No feather beyond the neck
wattles, only skin
Line of
feather

12.  Chicken or broiler
 Young male or female domestic
fowl
 Not developed any all sexual characteristics
 Slaughtered at age of 6-8 wks
 Weight 2 kg
 Suitable for roasting

13.  Roaster
 Older male chicken, up to 8 month
 Weight 2.7 kg
 Broiler breeder or cob
 Female, sexually mature
 Laid fertilized eggs
 18 month age
 Weight 2.7 kg
 Suitable for roasting, boiling

14.  Hen or boiling fowl
 Egg-laying female
 18 month age, completed at least one laying season
 Not tender enough to roast
 Suitable for boiling

15.  Cockerel
 Male, sexually mature
 Not used for human consumption
 Pullet
 Young hen

16. Post mortem inspection
 1- Whole carcase inspection
 After defeathering
 Lesions like bad bleeding, emaciated, septic wounds should
be removed from the line
 2- Evisceration inspection
 Various techniques of inspection
 Within limited time frame (1200 birds/hr)
 Viscera attached (intestine, gizzard, liver, spleen, heart, lungs, ovary)
 Body cavity, legs carcase also examined , not only viscera

17.  3- Final inspection
 After removal of viscera, and washing of body
cavity
 Done by QC officer

18. Report on poultry carcase examination
 I- Definition
 II- Findings
 1- Organoleptic exam
 Muscles (colour, consistency)
 Fat (colour, odour, consistency)
 2- Chemical exam
 pH
 Eber’s test
 Lead acetate test
 3-Bacteriological exam
 4- Boiling and roasting
 III - Diagnosis
 IV - Judgment

19. Inspection of fishes

20. Organoleptic examination
Stale fish
Fresh fish
Flabby
Rigid or stiff
Body
Thick and bad odour
Very thin watery,
mucoid with fresh
odour
Slime
Remains
Dose not remain
Pitting
Easily removed
Fixed
Scales
Dull, bleached
Glistening, bright
Surface,
colour

21. Stale fish
Fresh fish
Cloudy, sunken,
wrinkled
Bright and not
sunken
Eyes
Yellowish, gray,
brown, greenish,
bad odour
Red, rosy with fresh
odour
Gills
Stale or sour
Fresh
Smell
Soft, lacerated,
mucoid
Firm, fixed to
vertebral column
Muscles
Float on water
Sink in water
On water

23. Organoleptic exam and judgment
4 degrees
Colour of skin and scales
3 degrees
Odour of skin
3 degrees
Eyes
3 degrees
Gills
3 degrees
Body cavity and cut surface
3 degrees
Muscle consistency, consistence of cut surface
4 degrees
Boiling test for odour
5 degrees
Boiling test for taste
28 degrees
TOTAL

24.  Result
 e.g total degrees = 18
 Percentage of the degrees = = 64.3 degrees
 Judgment
 50 degree or more-----------------Fit for consumption
 25 – less 50 degree----------------On border line
 Less than 25 degree---------------Unfit for consumption
18 X 100
28

25. Inspection of frozen fish
 Defrosting frozen fish
 For canning
 Rapid thawing is better to avoid exposure to high temp
 For consumption
 Slow thawing in current water

26. Microbiological examination of fish,
shellfish, their products
 Sampling
 Packaged fish
 Minimum 5 retail packages (minimum 200g each)
 bulk fish
 Number of fish to give same total weight as packaged fish
 Canned fish (sample numbers depends on can size and
cases number)

27. Minimum number of samples
Can size, case numbers
- 24 cans
- 48 cans, 1 can/case
- 72 cans, 1 can/case
108mm diameter X 123.8mm height
-small lots
-up to 1000 cases
-up to 1001 to 3600 cases
- 24 cans, 1 can/case
- 30 cans, 1 can/case
- 36 cans, 1 can/case
Larger cans
-up to 600 cases
-up to 601 to 900 cases
-up to 901 to 1300 cases

28.  Samples transportation and storage
 Investigated within 6 hours after collection (up to 24
hrs)
 Over 24 hrs should not be used for microbiological
exam
 Sample data
 Date, time and place of collection
 Area from which fish were harvested
 Time of harvesting
 Storage condition between harvesting and collection

29.  Sample preparation
 Fish
 Remove scales, fins, sterilize the surface with alcohol and
flame
 5 gm muscle above lateral line removed under a septic
condition to sterile flask containing 45 ml saline, peptone
water, mixing, allow to stand for 15 min.
 Prepare 10 fold serial dilution up to 10-6

30.  Shellfish
 Remove all loose material on the shell
 Clean under running water
 Drain water in clean sterile towels
 Remove the shells under a septic condition
 Collect meats of shellfish in sterile blender or container

33. Microbial investigation
 A- Direct smear
 From skin and muscle
 Stained with methylene blue, count number of
bacteria
 Judgment
 1-3 m.os/field +
 4-10 m.os/field ++
 11-40 m.os/field +++
 More than 40 m.os ++++ (bad quality)

34.  B- Enumeration and isolation of spoilage and
pathogenic microorganisms
 Total bacterial count
 Coliforms, faecal coliforms counts (MPN)
 Isolation and identification of E. coli, Aeromonase,
Vibrio, Salmonellae

35. Chemical indicators of quality
 1- TVB-N (Total Volatile Basic – Nitrogen),
TMA-N (TriMethylAmine-Nitrogen)
 To detect the freshness
 2- Histamine analysis
 Histamine poisoning
 3- Heavy metals analysis (mercury, lead, tin)

36. Inspection of
salted fish

37. Old salted fish
Fresh salted fish
Turbid
Slight turbid
Eyes
Yellowish brown
Yellow colour
Eye lens
Shrinked, loss it colour
& brightness
Bright, smooth
Skin
Turbid yellow, brown
Greyish, glossy, bight
red
Muscles
Slime, sticky
Soft, flesh easily
removed from spins
Consistency
Rancid
Salty
Odour
Sweet or rancid
Salty
Taste

38. Microbial defects in salted fish
 Pink colour
 Caused by halobacterium halococcus
 Dun (red growth) - mould
 Hemispora stellata, Sporendonema epizoum
 Cheesy putrefactive
 Red halophilic bacteria

39. Inspection of
smoked fish

40.  Smoking
 Distinctive and desirable flavors in meat, fish,
poultry, cheese
 Composition of smoke depends on
 Type of wood, air amount, temperature, time
 Hard wood (e.g hickory ) better than soft wood
(unpleasant flavors)

41. Decomposition of smoked fishes
Moist decomposition
Dry decomposition
E-.coli, Pseudomonous
aeruginosa, Proteus
Micrococci
Cause
-Moist skin and
muscle, slimy, bad
odour
-Viscera are sticky,
offensive odour
-Dry, shrinked with
layer of fat &oil
-Muscles are
yellowish brown,
offensive odour
Skin,
Muscle,
Viscera

42. Adulteration of smoked fishes
 Using artificial yellow colouration
 Detection
 Few drops of H2SO4 (1part H2SO4 : 3 parts H2O)
 Results
 +ve result ----blue colour
 Judgment
 Condemnation
 +ve for artificial yellow colouration (lead chromate)
 Mould growth over the surface

44. Inspection of Caviar

45. Definitions
 Caviar
 Roe of sturgeon
 Roe
 Mass of eggs within the ovarian membrane of
female fish
 Sturgeon
 Various large gonoid fishes of family Acipenseridae in
fresh and salt waters
 Good source of caviar and isinglass (pure transparent or
translucent gelatin, from air bladder, used in glue and jellies)

46.  Types of caviar
 1-Caviar from Caspian sturgeon (authentic)
 Beluga, Osetra, Sevruga)
 2-American domestic caviar
 3-Caviar of other fish
 Salmon caviar, White-fish caviar, Lumpfish caviar,
Paddefish caviar

47.  Composition of salmon caviar
 47 vitamins & minerals
 68 gram fat/pound (25% cholesterol, 75% lecithin)
 74 calories/pound
 Storage
 Stored at (-2) – (-10) °C
 Stored for up to 1 year

48. Inspection of caviar
Decomposed
Normal
changed
Black, grey, yellowish,
orange, red
Colour
Shrunken, sticky (slime
layer formation)
Hard, granular
Consistency
Acidic or rancid
Odourless
Odour
Acidic, mouldy, rancid
Salty
Taste
Acidic = suspected
Alkaline = putrefied
Neutral
pH

49. Lab investigation
 1- Microbiological tests
 Examined for spoilage and pathogenic bacteria
 2- Chemical tests
 pH, H2S, Amonia, free fatty acids