Code of Veterinary Practice For Poultry Processing Plant
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5.2 Before evisceration, the outer surface of each dressed poultry carcass should be washed by spray or constant  ow of water.
5.3 Viscera should be removed within an hour of bleeding and body opening cuts must be made in such a manner that the intestinal tract is not pierced.
5.4 Vent opening machines or guns should be  ushed between each venting operation. Water  ushed from a vent gun must be directed away from suspended poultry carcasses.
5.5 A knife or implement used in the venting operation should not be used to cut into any other part of a poultry carcass unless  rst sterilised.
5.6 Where vent opening is performed manually, a facility for the rinsing of hands and implements should be provided. A facility of such nature should also be provided where an employee acts in a “back-up” capacity to an automatic vent opening machine.
5.7 Evisceration tables and benches, where used in manual processing, should be self-draining by means of perforations or a permanently angled surface. A cleaning system should be provided to enable regular cleaning of the table or bench surface. Each set of viscera should be removed from the bench surface immediately after being drawn. Containers used for the collection of viscera should be emptied on a continuous basis to avoid over lling and spillage.
5.8 Additional appliances such as scissors, knifes, evisceration forks and lung rakes should be placed on an approved rack or facility at appropriate work stations when not in use.
5.9 Water  ow in an evisceration trough should be in the opposite direction to that in which poultry carcasses are traveling so that carcasses leave at the point where clean water enters the trough.
5.10 Water jets or sprays continuously in operation should be provided along both sides of an evisceration trough or belt for the rinsing of the employee’s hand and implements during the evisceration process. Where a water supply is limited, a control  ow would be acceptable. Hands and implements should be rinsed in a regular basis.