With poultry consumption on the rise, CMS Technology and the University of Georgia (UGA) have launched an alliance to focus on secondary processing and food safety in the poultry industry.

“Consumers obviously find the advertisements showing cows parachuting out of the skies wearing signs that say ‘eat more chicken,’ humorous,” said John Meccia, CEO of CMS Technology. “But, in truth, Americans do eat significantly more chicken, and ensuring the process that brings us that food source is as safe as possible is an extremely important issue.”

CMS Technology is a chemical company that focuses on the development and delivery of antimicrobial solutions for food, packaging and material applications.

According to CMS, consumer trends indicate a rise in per capita poultry consumption, with 80 percent of poultry coming from broilers. Because about 90 percent of broiler meat is now purchased in the form of cut-up parts or further processed chicken, CMS says this trend has an impact on food safety.

“Given the considerable demand for cut and ground poultry as opposed to whole birds in today's market, secondary processing has become a central component of the supply chain in the poultry industry,” said Scott Russell, professor of poultry processing and products microbiology at UGA. “This alliance will help foster new and improved intervention strategies to reduce pathogenic and spoilage bacteria in the poultry industry.”

UGA and CMS will undertake tests and experiments, many with industry participants, to help enhance food safety central to the consumption of poultry.  Additional partnerships are anticipated in related areas such as processing equipment and packaging.