Laboratory services of processed poultry products are conducted to derive their analytical attributes used to determine the compliance of the product with applicable specifications.

Words used in the regulations in this subpart in the singular form will import the plural, and vice versa, as the case may demand. As used throughout the regulations in this subpart, unless the context requires otherwise, the following terms will be construed to mean:

Dark meat. Refers to the skinless and deboned drumstick, thigh, and back portions of poultry.

Light meat. Refers to the skinless and deboned breast and wing portions of poultry.

Poultry. Any kind of domesticated bird, including, but not limited to, chicken, turkey, duck, goose, pigeon, and guinea.

Poultry product. Any ready-to-cook poultry carcass or part therefrom or any specified poultry food product.

(a) The Science and Technology Division laboratories will analyze processed poultry products for moisture, fat, salt, protein, nitrites, and added citric acid.

(b) Deboned poultry for roasting will have the individual dark meat, light meat, and skin portions tumbled separately in the natural juices prior to grinding. The skin, light meat, and dark meat portion weight percentages of the total product are determined. The ground skin, ground dark meat, and ground light meat portions will be analyzed separately for moisture, protein, salt, and fat. Moisture to protein ratios will be reported also for the individual portions of poultry.

(c) Canned boned poultry for a variety of USDA programs will be tested as a total can composite of the canned product for moisture, fat, salt, and protein analyses. Additional poultry commodities and related products for specific USDA sponsored programs will be tested for different chemical and physical attributes.

(d) Microbiological analyses, as the Salmonella determination, are available for poultry products.

(e) The majority of analyses for processed poultry products shall be performed at the Science and technology Division Eastern Laboratory, as indicated in paragraph (e) of § 94.3.

The analytical methods used by the USDA laboratories to perform analyses for processed poultry products are found in the latest edition of the Official Methods of Analysis of AOAC INTERNATIONAL, Suite 500, 481 North Frederick Avenue, Gaithersburg, MD 20877-2417.

(a) The fee charged for any single laboratory analysis of processed poultry products shall be obtained from the schedules of charges in paragraph (a) of § 91.37 of this subchapter.

(b) The laboratory analyses for processed poultry products shall result in an additional fee, found in Table 7 of § 91.37 of this subchapter, for sample preparation or grinding.

(c) The charge for any requested laboratory analysis of processed poultry products not listed shall be based on the standard hourly rate specified in § 91.37 (b) of this subchapter.