Identification and assessment of potential vulnerabilities in the poultry meat production chain to dangerous agents and substances

The specific targeted European research project ΣChain (2006) addresses existing as well as potential vulnerabilities within food chains. One of the food chains within the focus of ΣChain is dealing with poultry meat. Fundamental for the assessment of potential vulnerabilities in the chain is basic knowledge of production processes. To this end the poultry meat production chain as well as the feed chain was mapped. Contaminants or groups of contaminants likely or possibly entering the chain were identified. Information about entry points to the chain, spreading, control measures, corrective actions, sampling and detection methods were added. Information loss and loss of traceability was considered as having significant influence on the potential vulnerability of chain steps to contamination. Therefore the documentation flow accompanying the product was assessed and allocated to process steps. Physical and electronic tags were reviewed. Prioritization of the identified potential vulnerabilities was accomplished using a modified FMEA (Failure Mode & Effects Analysis) method.