Gas poultry stunning system claims halved costs

By POULTRY WORLD staff

THE successful gas stunning system introduced some five years ago by Anglia Autoflow has made a breakthrough, director David Wills believes.

He claims it has halved the cost and brought further benefits, through the use of nitrogen with small amounts of argon or carbon dioxide.

The concept has always had advantages for birds, operators and processors.

However, take-up has been slowed by industry profits under pressure and the high cost of using the initial mixture of argon and carbon dioxide.

Now the introduction of nitrogen, with only minor alterations to the existing stunners, enables the enhanced system to be operated with the companys Easyload live bird handling.

With the clear indication of gas stunning becoming more widely used, beyond the five plants now operating (three UK, one each in Belgium and Ireland), Anglia Autoflow promises more research and development going into automatic shackling that should be possible.

Users of the standard gas mixture have confirmed the benefits with extra advantages for de-boning chicken, such as eliminating blood splash and broken bones, and consistent breast fillet colour.

But David Wills admits that there was a downside of wings hanging down, which made them prone to getting caught in the standard neck cutter, and the high cost of the gas.

By switching to nitrogen as the main constituent in the mix, not only was the cost halved but also the wing problem was resolved and the needs for full bleed-out, clean plucking and no blood splash were all met.

A further benefit then emerged from trials with a UK user, in conjunction with BOC.

Where the predominantly nitrogen mix with argon was used, maturation was occurring early, within two hours, giving the prospect of on-line deboning after air-chilling, hence bringing cost savings.

The system complies with current legislation and using this mix is seen to give enhanced bird welfare at the time of slaughter by complete avoidance of carbon dioxide.

It is slightly more expensive than the least-cost nitrogen with carbon dioxide, but maturation then takes up to five hours.

• Anglia Autoflow, Wortham Ling, Diss, Norfolk IP22 1SR. Tel: 01379 651031 Fax: 01379 652832 Email: sales@aaflow.com