ABSTRACT
The livestock sector, in general, and poultry sector, in particular, is providing a lion’s share in feeding the population with the highest quality animal protein. Milk is a complete diet as it contains all of the essential nutrients, except iron. Similarly, eggs are deficient only in vitamin C. Meat sources, like beef, mutton, and poultry, are the best quality of animal protein with the highest biological value and having the lowest energy content per unit of protein. Careful inspection services before and after slaughter and during processing operations and plant premises help the processor to package safe and healthy meat. Grading of poultry and poultry products further add value to ensure the consumers in provision of best quality nutrients. Processing is a chain of operations in a coordinated manner employed to get the best quality ready-to-cook or ready-to-eat poultry and poultry products. This chain starts with receiving, antemortem inspection, unloading, shackling, stunning, slaughtering, scalding, singeing, neck cutting, evisceration, postmortem inspection, grading, cutting, chilling, packaging, freezing, and ends at transportation activities. Various types of processing products can be prepared like primary processed, secondary processed, and further processed products or to simplify ready-to-cook and ready-to-eat processed poultry products. Marketing trends in the developing countries are transforming from live poultry sales to processed poultry and poultry products’ sales. The waste products of poultry industry are classified as edible or inedible waste products. The major waste of poultry processing industry is water, which is a nutrient dense suspension and is required to be treated before disposal. In conclusion, livestock and poultry are the best quality animal protein source.
