CARCASS AND MEAT QUALITY IN BROILERS EITHER KILLED WITH A GAS-MIXTUREOR STUNNED WITH AN ELECTRIC-CURRENT UNDER COMMERCIAL PROCESSING CONDITIONS

1. Carcase and meat quality were evaluated under commercial conditions in 400 broilers either killed with a mixture of 30% carbon dioxide an d 60% argon in air or stunned with a 50 Hz, AC with clipped sine ware. 2. Compared with electrical stunning, killing broilers with the gas m ixture eliminated or substantially reduced the prevalence of carcase a nd meat quality defects. 3. The results also showed that killing broil ers with a mixture of 30% carbon dioxide and 60% argon would enable fi lleting (deboning) to be performed at 4 h Post mortem without adversel y affecting the cook loss or texture of breast meat.