Meat and Poultry

Understanding, Classification,
and Fabrication
 I. Understanding

The key difference between poultry and

meat is that poultry is birds’ flesh,
whereas meat is animal flesh used for
human consumption.
Meat is rich in proteins and fats. It can be eaten
raw. But usually, it is eaten after cooked. Meat
gets spoilt quickly due to fungi or bacterial
reactions. Therefore, if they are not handled,
cooked, marketed or stored properly, it will lead
to various foodborne diseases due to the
infections.
Poultry and meat are key elements in religions
because they are used in various celebrations,
and there are different beliefs and rules based
on these, which are unique to each religion.
 What is Poultry?
Poultry is domesticated
birds kept by humans for
their meat, eggs, or their
feathers. It is also identified
as white meat, which refers
to bird meat.
The word ‘poultry’ was derived
from the French or Norman
word ‘poule’, which was derived
from the Latin word ‘pullus’,
which means small animal.
Poultry provides food rich in
nutrients, especially proteins in
high amounts and fats and
fatty acids in low amounts.
But it has been discovered that around
47% of the poultry sold in United States
grocery stores are contaminated with
Staphylococcus aureus. There is also the
risk of bacterial infections such as
Salmonella and Campylobacter.
Therefore, if the food is not handled,
cooked, processed, marketed, or stored
properly, bacterial infections may lead
to foodborne illness.
Poultry domestication began around 5,400 years ago in
Southeast Asia. This began as a result of people
hatching and rearing young birds from eggs collected
from the wild. This later revolved to keeping the birds
permanently in captivity.
At first, domesticated chickens were used for
cockfighting and quails were kept for their songs.
Then people gradually realized the usefulness of
having a captive-bred source of food. Then they
began to rare birds for purposes like eggs, meat and
plumage.
 What is Meat?
Meat is animal flesh that is
taken as food. This word
was derived from the Old
English word ‘mete’, which
refers to food.
 Meat typically refers to the
flesh of mammalian species
such as pigs, cattle and lambs,
which are raised and prepared
for human consumption. Also
identified as red meat.
With the domestication of animals such as cattle,
sheep, rabbits and pigs, they were used in meat
production on an industrial scale.
Generally, meat consists of water, protein, and
fat.
Though it can be eaten raw, normally, it is
cooked before eating.
There are numerous ways to cook and season
the meat at present.
Because of bacteria and fungi, unprocessed
meat gets spoiled or rotten within a few
hours or days.
Meat is important in the economy and
culture.
Many religions have either rules or beliefs
about eating or not eating meat.
What is the Difference
Between Poultry and Meat?
The key difference between poultry and meat is that
poultry is birds’ flesh while the meat is animal flesh.
Poultry typically tends to be leaner than other types of
meat. In addition, poultry is less expensive than other
meat. Chickens, quails, and turkeys are examples of
poultry whereas pork, beef, mutton, veal, etc. are
examples of popular meat.
II. Classification
Pork It is the meat of swine.

Good quality pork is

obtained from animals
between the age of 3-
12 months before the
amount of fat becomes
excessive.
Beef
Meat of cattle over 1
year old.

Veal: It is the meat from

cattle slaughtered 3 to 4
weeks after birth.
 Mutton: Flesh of young ovine
Mutton animals of both sexes whose
age is 12 months or under.
Yearling Mutton: Carcasses of
young sheep usually from 12
to about 20 months old are
termed yearling mutton.
Mature mutton: Flesh of both
the male and female of ovine
species that are 20 months in
age at the time of slaughter.
Rabbit Meat Bear Meat
Venison/
Deer
Meat
Chicken Duck
Turkey
Quail

Squab/Pigeon
Meat
III. Fabrication