Evaluation of Age, Gender, Strain, and Diet on the Cooked Yield and Shear Values of Broiler Breast Fillets

Poultry processors are concerned that small changes made in the procedures used to grow broilers will affect the quality of the meat, such as the texture. This survey attempted to determine how much the texture was affected by small changes in the diet fed to the bird, the strain of the bird, the age of the bird when it is processed, and the gender of the bird. The cooked fillets were tested for texture using two different devices. No effects on texture were detected due to the diets, strains, or gender used in this study. All meat samples regardless of age, gender, diet, strain, or texture-assessing device would be considered tender. This data indicates that minor changes in diet, strain, and age that could happen in industry would have minimal effects on the ultimate meat quality of the fillets.