Several workshops have been held to assist poultry professionals in developing these protocols. To decide if a step in a process is a CCP, a series of questions are asked about the product at that particular stage of production. These questions are illustrated in Figure 1. These questions were intended for processes in which cook or sterilize the food.
All raw chicken is cooked prior to consumption .
Therefore, if this decision tree is used and the questions are answered appropriately, there are no critical control points in a poultry processing facility . It would be beneficial for slaughter facilities to use a modified version of the decision tree. For example, when asked question 3, there are a number of stages in a slaughter operation where the hazard may be increased beyond an acceptable level. For example, during evisceration, if the intestines of the bird are ruptured, fecal material containing enteric pathogens fall onto the carcass, increasing the hazard. Therefore, for a slaughter facility, it may be more appropriate to modify the decision tree as follows.