CQ Foods Inc. introduced April 19 the Certified Quality Reader (CQR), the first non-invasive, handheld device to instantaneously detect and measure woody breast in broiler chicken breast fillets.

Woody breast is a muscle myopathy found in certain chicken breasts. While not harmful to people, the condition makes the poultry meat tough and unpleasant to consume.

The CQR is a handheld device that utilizes bio-electrical impedance analysis to detect woody breast. This new technology provides producers, distributors and retailers with an easy and accurate spot check tool and methodology, the company said.

Woody breast is one of the largest problems affecting the poultry industry today. Current estimates suggest that 10-20% of the 9 billion broilers harvested in the U.S. annually contain some level of woody breast, the company said.

"Our Certified Quality Reader assesses the physiological condition of poultry in real time," said Dr. Keith Cox, chief scientific officer at CQ Foods. "This device allows anyone to quickly measure broiler fillets for wooden breast detection, with no significant changes to the production process."

CQ Foods developed the CQR in collaboration with Dr. Amit Morey of Auburn University. The partnership brought together expertise aimed at effectively and efficiently analyzing muscle myopathy in broiler breasts. Numerous studies conducted with the CQR were able to produce high-confidence results.

"This CQR addresses today's pressing, billion-dollar poultry industry problem that is affecting consumer acceptability of the high-valued breast meat," Morey said.

The CQ Foods family of companies is an advanced technology, implementation and certification company that develops and manufactures handheld analyzers that are used to objectively measure the quality of proteins and other perishable foods. The cellular measurements are used to describe the quality and freshness of the proteins.

Currently being implemented in the operations of several major national grocery chains and in some of the large restaurant chains in the U.S., CQ Foods products and programs assist the food supply chain of custody to verify objective quality, improve inventory management and logistical decisions and identify supply chain and operational value improvement opportunities.