Dressed Poultry

Dressed Poultry refers to poultry slaughtered for human food, with head, feet, and viscera intact, and from which the blood and feathers have been removed. While the U.S. Standards of Quality apply to dressed poultry, and the USDA poultry grading regulations provide for the grading of dressed poultry, this product is practically nonexistent on today's poultry market. The individual carcasses of dressed poultry may not be officially identified with the grade mark. Under certain conditions the grade mark may be applied to shipping containers of dressed poultry. No part other than wing tips may be removed from dressed poultry.

The determination of whether dressed poultry carcasses are unwholesome or unsound is based only on external characteristics. The following conditions would exclude a dressed poultry carcass from a quality designation:

1.	Decomposition (slippery or slimy condition, putrid or sour odor, greenish cast over the back and between thigh and rib).
2.	Emaciation
3.	Bruises or mangling in excess of that permitted in C quality.
4.	External evidence of disease, such as abnormally dark flesh or skin, external tumors, and abdominal accumulations.
5.	Dirty head, carcass, feet, or vent; bloody head or carcass; green vent; feathers on the carcass; feed in the crop.

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