Woody breast explained

Woody breast is an abnormal muscle condition that impacts the texture and usability of chicken breast meat. The affected meat is described as tough, chewy, and gummy due to stiff or hardened muscle fibers that spread through the filet. The specific cause is not known but may be related to factors associated with rapid growth rates.^[1] Companies often use a three-point scale to grade the woodiness of a particular breast.^[2] Although distasteful to many, meat that exhibits woody breast is not known to be harmful to humans who consume it. When detected by suppliers, product shown to have the condition present may be discounted or processed as ground chicken. Woody breast has become so prevalent in the broiler industry that the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association has helped fund four research projects with over $250,000 in an effort to understand and address the condition.^[3] Estimates placed the total cost to the global industry as high as US$1billion in 2020 for losses associated with managing the woody breast condition in broiler chickens.

There are urgent needs in the global poultry industry for rapid detection and sorting of product with woody breast using nondestructive methods.^[4] Current detection technologies include hyperspectral imaging, accelerometers, and bio-electrical impedance.^[5]

See also

• White striping

General references

• Web site: What is "woody breast"? Is woody breast caused by bigger, faster-growing chickens? . 13 April 2016 . 2021-05-26 . dmy-all.
• Muscle Metabolome Profiles in Woody Breast-(un)Affected Broilers: Effects of Quantum Blue Phytase-Enriched Diet . 2020-08-04 . Elizabeth . Greene . Reagan . Cauble . Ahmed E. . Dhamad . Michael T. . Kidd . Byungwhi . Kong . Sara M. . Howard . Hector F. . Castro . Shawn R. . Campagna . Mike . Bedford . Sami . Dridi . 10.3389/fvets.2020.00458 . Frontiers in Veterinary Science . 7 . 458 . 32851035 . 7417653 . Tufarelli . Vincenzo . dmy-all. free .
• Web site: Why does woody breast still have the industry stumped? . Poultry Digital . January 2018 . Ryan . Johnson . 2018-06-15 . Global Ag Media . dmy-all.
• News: Bigger Chickens Bring a Tough New Problem: 'Woody Breast' . 2016-03-29 . Kelsey . Gee . . dmy-all.
• Poultry Science . 98 . 1 . 480–490 . Jens Petter . Wold . Ingrid . Måge . Atle . Løvland . Karen . Wahlstrøm . Sanden . RagniOfstad . Near-infrared spectroscopy detects woody breast syndrome in chicken fillets by the markers protein content and degree of water binding . 2019 . 10.3382/ps/pey351 . 30165657 . dmy-all. free .
• Web site: Poultry Science Association 107th Annual Meeting Abstracts . . https://web.archive.org/web/20200912071811/https://poultryscience.org/files/galleries/2018-PSA-Annual_Meeting_Abstracts.pdf . 2020-09-12 . dmy-all.
• A review on the woody breast condition, detection methods, and product utilization in the contemporary poultry industry. 1 Aug 2020. Journal of Animal Science. 10.1093/jas/skaa207. 32783056. Caldas-Cueva . Juan P. . Owens . Casey M. . 98 . 8 . 7419734 .
• Web site: Predictability of woody breast in live birds proves challenging. 12 May 2022. Bob. Sims. Sosland Publishing.

Notes and References

1. Poultry Science . 95 . 10 . 2449–2454 . 2016-10-01 . Instrumental texture characteristics of broiler pectoralis major with the wooden breast condition . D. . Chatterjee . Hong . Zhuang . Brian C. . Bowker . A. M. . Rincon . G. . Sanchez-Brambila . U.S. National Poultry Research Center . University of Georgia Department of Poultry Science . 10.3382/ps/pew204 . 27418659 . dmy-all. free .
   • Web site: 2017-04-11 . The woody breast condition affects texture characteristics of both raw and cooked chicken breast meat . Atlas Of Science .
2. Barbara de Almeida Mallmann . Guillermo Tellez-Isaias . Andy Mauromoustakos . Craig N. Coon . Casey M. Owens . Fillet Dimensions and Meat Quality Attributes Associated With Woody Breast in Broilers . Meat and Muscle Biology . 2020 . 34 . 1–9 . 10.22175/mmb.11224 . free.
3. Web site: "Woody breast" could bite the chicken business . Aimee . Picchi . 2016-03-30 . 2021-05-26 . . . dmy-all.
4. Caldas-Cueva . Juan P . Casey M Owens . A review on the woody breast condition, detection methods, and product utilization in the contemporary poultry industry . J Anim Sci . Aug 1, 2020 . 98 . 10.1093/jas/skaa207 . 32783056 . 7419734.
5. News: Schaer . Lilian . Simplifying woody breast detection . 30 November 2023 . Annex Business Media . Canadian Poultry Magazine . February 9, 2022.