Woody breast

Woody breast is an abnormal muscle condition that impacts the texture and usability of chicken breast meat. The affected meat is described as tough, chewy, and gummy due to stiff or hardened muscle fibers that spread through the filet. The specific cause is not known but may be related to factors associated with rapid growth rates.[1][2] Companies often use a three-point scale to grade the woodiness of a particular breast.[3] Although distasteful to many, meat that exhibits woody breast is not known to be harmful to humans who consume it. When detected by suppliers, product shown to have the condition present may be discounted or processed as ground chicken. Woody breast has become so prevalent in the broiler industry that the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association has helped fund four research projects with over $250,000 in an effort to understand and address the condition.[4] Estimates placed the total cost to the global industry as high as US$1 billion in 2020 for losses associated with managing the woody breast condition in broiler chickens.[5]

There are urgent needs in the global poultry industry for rapid detection and sorting of product with woody breast using nondestructive methods.[6] Current detection technologies include hyperspectral imaging, accelerometers, and bio-electrical impedance.[7]

  1. ^ Chatterjee, D.; Zhuang, Hong; Bowker, Brian C.; Rincon, A. M.; Sanchez-Brambila, G.; U.S. National Poultry Research Center; University of Georgia Department of Poultry Science (1 October 2016). "Instrumental texture characteristics of broiler pectoralis major with the wooden breast condition". Poultry Science. 95 (10): 2449–2454. doi:10.3382/ps/pew204. PMID 27418659.
  2. ^ Austin, Alonzo (Jan 2022), "The best uses for woody breast meat", WATT PoultryUSA, vol. 23, no. 1, pp. 36–41
  3. ^ Barbara de Almeida Mallmann; Guillermo Tellez-Isaias; Andy Mauromoustakos; Craig N. Coon; Casey M. Owens (2020). "Fillet Dimensions and Meat Quality Attributes Associated With Woody Breast in Broilers". Meat and Muscle Biology. 34: 1–9. doi:10.22175/mmb.11224.
  4. ^ Picchi, Aimee (30 March 2016). ""Woody breast" could bite the chicken business". MoneyWatch. CBS News. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
  5. ^ Barbut, S (2020), Understanding the woody breast syndrome and other myopathies in modern broiler chickens, Australian Poultry Science Symposium. Sydney, Australia, pp. 99–102
  6. ^ Caldas-Cueva, Juan P; Casey M Owens (Aug 1, 2020). "A review on the woody breast condition, detection methods, and product utilization in the contemporary poultry industry". J Anim Sci. 98 (8). doi:10.1093/jas/skaa207. PMC 7419734. PMID 32783056.
  7. ^ Schaer, Lilian (February 9, 2022). "Simplifying woody breast detection". Canadian Poultry Magazine. Annex Business Media. Retrieved 30 November 2023.