A poultry HACCP plan is required of every USDA-inspected poultry plant. Under 9 CFR part 417 the plant draws a flow chart of each process, writes a hazard analysis of what's reasonably likely to go wrong at each step, and writes a HACCP plan for each processing category where something is: slaughter, raw product not ground, and so on. Two controls show up in almost every poultry slaughter plan, because USDA's poultry rules point at them. Carcasses with visible fecal material mustn't enter the chiller, and the plant's written procedures for that go into the HACCP plan. And carcasses are chilled immediately after slaughter so pathogens don't grow, under written chilling procedures. Records are kept a year for slaughter and refrigerated product, two years for frozen. Farms processing their own birds under one of the exemptions from inspection, such as the 1,000-bird exemption, aren't official establishments and don't write a part 417 plan. In the example below, a small Ohio plant that processes for pastured poultry farms writes its plan with two critical control points.
The short version
- Every USDA-inspected poultry plant has a hazard analysis and a HACCP plan for each processing category.
- A flow chart of each process, and the product's intended use.
- Visible fecal contamination: written procedures keep it out of the chiller, inside the HACCP plan.
- Chilling: immediately after slaughter, under written procedures, so pathogens don't grow.
- Records: one year for slaughter and refrigerated product, two for frozen.
- Exempt farm processing, such as up to 1,000 of your own birds a year, isn't covered by part 417.
- TaroStack keeps each processing day as a lot with its readings, for each farm's birds. More below.
The rules
| Rule | Where |
|---|---|
| Hazard analysis | Every official establishment, with a flow chart and the intended use (9 CFR 417.2(a)) |
| HACCP plan | For each product when a hazard is reasonably likely, by processing category, such as slaughter and raw not ground (417.2(b)) |
| Fecal contamination | Written procedures so carcasses with visible fecal material don't enter the chiller, in the HACCP plan (9 CFR 381.65(f)) |
| Chilling | Immediately after slaughter, no outgrowth of pathogens, under written procedures (9 CFR 381.66(b)) |
| Records | One year for slaughter and refrigerated product; two years for frozen, preserved or shelf-stable (9 CFR 417.5) |
| Exemptions | Including a producer slaughtering no more than 1,000 of its own birds a year (9 CFR 381.10) |
The label side of the same birds is in meat labeling requirements, and the records a HACCP plan produces in HACCP record keeping form example. This is general information, not legal advice.
An example: the hazard analysis
Monday Creek Poultry Processing, a made-up small USDA-inspected plant in New Straitsville, Ohio, processes pastured chickens for six farms, including Sunday Creek Pastured Poultry, about 600 birds on a processing day. Its slaughter plan:
| Step | Hazard | Reasonably likely? | Control | CCP? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Receiving live birds | Salmonella and Campylobacter carried in | Yes | Controlled at evisceration and chilling | No |
| Killing, scalding, picking | Contamination from feathers and scald water | No | Sanitation SOP, scald water changed | No |
| Evisceration | Fecal contamination from a torn intestine | Yes | Zero visible fecal material before the chiller | CCP 1 |
| Chilling | Growth of pathogens | Yes | Chill to the plant's validated temperature and time | CCP 2 |
| Packaging and labeling | Wrong label or missing safe handling instructions | No | Label check, prerequisite program | No |
| Cold storage | Growth of pathogens | No | Cooler log, prerequisite program | No |
The plan
| CCP | Critical limit | Monitoring | Corrective action | Verification |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CCP 1 Visible fecal contamination | Zero visible fecal material on carcasses entering the chiller | Check 10 carcasses each hour before the chiller | Rework or trim the affected carcasses, re-check the hour's birds, find the cause | Supervisor re-checks once a shift; records reviewed daily |
| CCP 2 Chilling | Carcasses at or below the plant's validated limit within its validated time (example: 40°F within 4 hours) | Probe the breast of 5 carcasses as they leave the chiller | Hold the lot, keep chilling, assess; adjust ice and water | Thermometer checked daily; records reviewed daily |
The chilling numbers are an example: the plant's own written chilling procedure and its support set the real ones.
A day of records
| Time | Lot | CCP | Reading | Limit | OK? | Action |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8:00 | SCP-1013 | Fecal check | 0 of 10 | 0 | Yes | |
| 9:00 | SCP-1013 | Fecal check | 1 of 10 | 0 | No | Carcass trimmed, the hour's birds re-checked, evisceration line slowed |
| 10:00 | SCP-1013 | Fecal check | 0 of 10 | 0 | Yes | |
| 11:30 | SCP-1013 | Chilling | 39°F | 40°F or below | Yes | |
| 13:30 | MCP-1013 | Chilling | 42°F | 40°F or below | No | Lot held, more ice added, re-probed at 38°F |
Each farm's birds get their own lot, so a problem on the line traces to one farm's birds on one day. What Sunday Creek's own label claims need is in pasture raised label requirements.
Get the worksheet
Download the poultry HACCP plan worksheet. Four sheets: the hazard analysis, the HACCP plan with a place to sign, a monitoring log that checks each reading against its limits, and a read-me. It's a worksheet to organize your own plan, not a plan to copy. It's an ordinary Excel file with no macros, and it works in Google Sheets, LibreOffice and Numbers.
Where this stops working
Six farms, a processing day each week, and every lot's checks belong to that farm's birds. When a farm's customer calls about a chicken from September, the plant needs the lot, the day's records and where the birds went.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack keeps each farm's birds on a processing day as a lot, with the readings on its batch record.
Each farm's birds a lot. A processing run for a farm is a batch with its own lot and date, and goods kept for a client can be recorded as that client's own.
Readings on the batch. Fields of your own on the batch record hold the fecal checks and chilling temperatures, and printable batch-record forms carry a sign-off.
Holds and where it went. A lot can be held until it's released, and each release or order records the lots it carried, so one recall report shows where a lot went.
| The job | Clipboard | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| Which farm's birds were on the line | The day's schedule | A lot for each farm's run |
| The day's checks | Sheets in a binder | Fields on the batch record |
| A lot that read warm | A note on the cooler | A hold until released |
| Where a lot went | Invoices and pickup slips | One recall report |
Batches, lots, holds and recalls are on every plan, from $49 a month; keeping goods for clients is on Standard, at $99 a month. The first 30 days are free, with no credit card. If you'd like a hand setting up, ask, and we'll do it with you.