Where Are Beef Carcuses Processed Transporting Cattle

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Techniques and hygiene practices in slaughtering and meat handling

EQUIPMENT

Slaughtering equipment, particularly for smaller-calibration operations, need not be elaborate and expensive. The amount of equipment will depend on the slaughtering procedures employed. If possible, all equipment should be made of stainless steel or plastic, be rust resistant and easily cleaned and sanitized. Equipment which does not get in contact with the meat (e.thousand. overhead runway, working platforms, knocking pen) is unremarkably made of galvanized steel.

Basic equipment needed for the slaughtering functioning:

• stunning gun, electrical head tongs or simple stunning equipment for direct blow
• knives:
  sticking - 15 cm sharpened on both sides
  skinning - xv cm curved
• a sharpening steel
• oil or water sharpening stone
• scabbard and belt for property knives
• meat saw - hand or electric and cleaver
• block and tackle or chain hoist potent enough to hold the weight of the animal to be slaughtered
• pritch, chocks or skinning rack (dressing cradle)
• a strong beam, tripod or rail 2.iv to 3.four grand from flooring
• spreader - gambrel or metal pipe
• several buckets
• working platforms
• scalding barrel or tank
• pot, butt or organization for humid water
• bell scrapers
• solid scraping table or platform
• thermometer registering up to 70°C
• hog or hay claw
• torch or flame for singeing

The concluding seven items indicate boosted equipment required when hogs are scalded and scraped rather than skinned.

Useful additional equipment:

• knocking pen
• bleeding hooks (for vertical bleeding)
• blood-catching trough
• wash trough (tripe) Sanitation of hands and tools:
• hand wash-basin
• implement sterilizers

Means should be available to clean thoroughly all equipment coming into contact with carcasses or meat. Implement sterilizers are stainless-steel boxes holding hot (82°C) water, shaped to adapt particular equipmentknives, cleavers, saws, etc. (Fig. 2). Knife sterilizers should exist placed in positions where every operator who uses a knife has immediate admission. Handles as well every bit blades must be sterilized. Each operator should have at least ii knives etc., one to use while the other sterilizes (Figs 10 and eleven).

Failure to sterilize all knives and equipment regularly will result in carcass contamination. Bacteria will exist transferred from the hibernate to the carcass and from carcass to carcass (Fig. 12).

Treatment OF LIVESTOCK BEFORE SLAUGHTER AND ITS IMPACT ON MEAT QUALITY

Stress in its many forms, east.g. deprivation of h2o or food, crude handling, exhaustion due to transporting over long distances, mixing of animals reared separately resulting in fighting, is unacceptable from an fauna welfare viewpoint and should besides be avoided because of its deleterious effects on meat quality. The nigh serious consequence of stress is death which is non uncommon among pigs transported in poorly ventilated, overcrowded trucks in hot weather. From loading on the farm to the stunning pen animals must be treated kindly, and the lorries, lairages and equipment for livestock handling must be designed to facilitate humane treatment. Stress immediately prior to slaughter, such as fighting or rough handling in the lairage, causes stored glycogen (sugar) to be released into the bloodstream. After slaughter this is cleaved down in the muscles producing lactic acid. This high level of acerbity causes a partial breakdown of the muscle construction causing the meat to be pale, soft and exudative (PSE). This condition is by and large institute in pigs.

Long-term stress before slaughter such as a prolonged period of fighting during ship and/or lairage leads to exhaustion. The sugars are used up and so that less is available to be broken down and less lactic acid is produced.

The reduced acidity leads to an abnormal muscle status known every bit nighttime, firm and dry (DFD) in pigs or dark cut in beefiness. The condition is rarer in lamb. Such meat has a high pH (above six.0) and spoils very quickly as the low acidity favours rapid bacterial growth.

Handling animals during ship and lairage

An electric catalyst (Fig. 13) should be used rather than a stick or tail-twisting not merely to avert stress but also to prevent carcass bruising. Grabbing sheep past the fleece also causes bruising (Fig. 14).

To avoid fighting, animals not reared together must not be mixed during send and lairage. Load and unload using shallow stepped ramps to avoid stumbles. Trucks should exist neither over- nor underloaded. Overloading causes stress and bruising due to crushing. Underloading results in animals being thrown around and falling more than necessary. Drivers should not corner at excessive speed and must accelerate and decelerate gently.

The lairage should accept minor pens. Corridors must curve and not bend sharply then that stock can come across a mode forward. Stock must non be slaughtered in sight of other stock. Enough of make clean water must exist available. The lairage must be well lit and ventilated. Do not hold stock in lairage for more than a twenty-four hours. Simply fit, healthy stock may be slaughtered for human consumption.

Fasting earlier slaughter reduces the volume of gut contents and hence bacteria and therefore reduces the run a risk of contamination of the carcass during dressing. It is usually sufficient for the animals to receive their concluding feed on the solar day earlier slaughter. Stock should have a remainder period afterwards inflow at the slaughterhouse. Even so, long periods in the lairage can lead to DFD if the animals are restless and fighting or mounting.

Animals should exist equally clean as possible at slaughter. Producers should wash their animals earlier leaving the farm. Trucks used for send must be washed after each load and the lairage at the slaughterhouse should exist kept clear of faecal matter and ofttimes washed (Figs 15 and xvi).

STUNNING AND Haemorrhage OF SLAUGHTER ANIMALS

Stunning prior to bleeding

Most countries have legislation requiring that animals are rendered unconscious (stunned) by a humane method prior to bleeding. Exceptions are fabricated for religions which require that ritual slaughter without prior stunning is practised, provided the slaughter method is humane. Stunning besides makes sticking (throat-slitting) less chancy for the operator. The creature must be unconscious long enough for sticking to be carried out, and for encephalon death to effect from the lack of blood supply.

Methods of stunning

Straight accident to skull using a gild or poleaxe. The accident must be dealt with precision and forcefulness, then that the skull is immediately smashed, causing instantaneous unconsciousness. In cattle the aiming betoken is in the middle of the brow in line with the ears, where the skull is thinnest. Horses have thinner skulls and are therefore easier to stun by this method. In sheep and goats the brain is more easily reached from the dorsum of the neck. Pigs accept a well-developed frontal cavity and so the blow should exist aimed slightly above the eyes.

Slaughtering mask. A bolt held in the correct position by the mask is driven into the animal'due south brain by a hammer accident. The device is commonly fitted with a leap which returns the bolt to its original position.

Free bullet fired from a pistol into the skull is constructive but dangerous. This method has been used on horses and cattle.

Captive-bolt pistols fitted with a blank cartridge are effective on cattle and sheep merely not pigs whose skulls are thicker (Figs 17 and 18). After firing, the bolt returns to its original position in the pistol. The bolt may or may non be designed to penetrate the skull. With penetrating types the encephalon becomes contaminated with hair, dirt and os fragments. If brains are to be saved as edible tissue then the non-penetrating type with a mushroom-shaped head should be used.

Electric stunning. An electrical current of high frequency simply, in the case of manually operated equipment, of relatively low voltage (sixty–eighty V) is passed through the brain of an animal for a few seconds to produce unconsciousness. If applied correctly a deep state of unconsciusness is invariably achieved. Strict condom rules must be observed. Head tongs (Fig. 19) are suitable for pigs and sheep only not for cattle. The electrodes carried on the ends of the tongs must be accurately placed (Figs twenty and 21). Places where the skull is thick must be avoided. Electrical contact is impeded by hair and caked mud. Water or alkali volition amend contact merely the head must not be completely wet otherwise the current will have a short-circuit path avoiding the brain. The electrodes must be applied with strong pressure.

	xix. Head tongs are used to stun pigs and sheep electrically but are non suitable for cattle. The electrode on the end of each tong is ridged for meliorate contact
17. Convict-bolt stunner suitable for cattle	20. The electrodes must exist applied firmly to either side of the caput then that the electric current passes through the brain causing unconsciousness in a few seconds
	21. Head tongs are also suitable for stunning pigs
eighteen. Aiming point for stunning cattle

Carbon dioxide stunning is used but in large hog abattoirs. Pigs are induced into a chamber and exposed to a concentration of 85 per centum CO₂ for most 45 seconds. Although effective for anaesthetizing sheep, information technology is impractical because of big amounts of CO_two collecting in the wool and affecting operators on the killing line.

Bleeding subsequently stunning

The objectives of bleeding are to kill the beast with minimal damage to the carcass and to remove quickly every bit much blood every bit possible as blood is an platonic medium for the growth of bacteria.

Sticking, severing the major arteries of the neck, should immediately follow stunning. Care must be taken not to puncture the chest cavity or it volition fill with blood.

Cattle. Insert the sticking pocketknife carefully just to a higher place the breastbone at 45° pointed toward the head. Ensure that the carotid arteries and jugular veins are severed in i movement.

Sheep. Draw the knife across the jugular furrow close to the head severing both carotid arteries. Alternatively, the knife may exist inserted through the side of the cervix, though this requires more skill (Fig. 22).

Pigs. As for cattle but practice not become in too far or a pocket of blood will collect at the shoulder (Fig.23). To reduce contamination by the scalding tank water the cut should exist as small as possible.

Bleeding on a rail

The near hygienic system of bleeding and dressing is to shackle the animal immediately after stunning, then hoist it on to a moving rail. The animal is stuck while being hoisted to minimize the delay after stunning. Bleeding continues until the claret period is negligible when carcass dressing should begin without further delay (Fig. 24)

Blood for human use must be nerveless with special equipment to avert contamination from the wound, the gullet of the knife. A hollow pocketknife directs blood away from the wound into a covered stainless-steel container without touching the skin or hide. The knife may be connected to a hose to reduce the risk of contamination. The hose may even be connected to a pump to speed the blood flow. Between 40 and 60 pct of the total blood volume will be removed though this will exist reduced if sticking is delayed. To foreclose coagulation, citric acid solution made up with one part citric acid to 2 parts h2o is added at a rate upwardly to 0.2 percent of the blood volume. The principal sources of contamination during sticking and bleeding include the knife, the wound and the food-pipe. The knief should be changed subsequently each operation and returned to a sterilizer. Cutting the hide of sheep and cattle and opening out to brand a clean entry for the sticking pocketknife reduces contagion from the wound. If the food-pipage is pierced semi-digested food may exist regurgitated contaminating the blood and cervix wound.

Horizontal haemorrhage

Horizontal bleeding is claimed to give faster bleeding rates and a greater recovery of blood. This may be due to certain organs and blood vessels being put under pressure when animals are hoisted, thus trapping blood and restricting the period. Bleeding on the floor is very unhygienic. The operation should take place on a specially designed, easily cleaned stainless-steel table which should be cleaned frequently. If blood is to be saved information technology must non come in contact with the table before reaching the collecting vessel.

	24. Afterwards sticking, the brute should be left to bleed until the blood menses becomes negligible	25. Scalding/dehairing tank which accommodates four pigs: ane awaiting immersion, two immersed and one just completing immersion. When the bars are rotated the pigs modify position
		26. After immersion any remaining loose hairs are scraped from the peel
27. Simple tank for combined scalding/ dehairing. The tank is filled with water at 60°C, a hog is lowered in, the hat is closed and the paddles rotate, the rubber tips loosening the hairs

Haemorrhage without stunning

The Jewish and Muslim religions forbid the consumption of meat which was killed past any method other than haemorrhage. Since it is difficult to guarantee that all animals will recover consciousness after being stunned by any particular method, stunning is not generally allowed. There are exceptions, all the same. Some communities do have depression-voltage electrical stunning.

Because animals are fully conscious at the time of sticking, ritual slaughter may exist less humane than sticking afterward stunning. To reduce the suffering operators must be highly skilled and so that a successful gash cut severing all the veins and arteries is made chop-chop at the showtime try. Different communities take dissimilar regulations as to the orientation of the animal at sticking, some favouring a position lying on its side, others insisting it lie on its dorsum. The animal should not be hoisted until unconsciousness due to lack of blood supply to the brain is consummate.

SCALDING AND DEHAIRING OF PIGS (USING Unproblematic EQUIPMENT)

Scalding in water at around 60°C for about six minutes loosens the hair in the follicle. Also depression a temperature and the hair will non be loosened and also high a temperature and the skin will exist cooked and the pilus difficult to remove. The simplest equipment consists of a tank into which the pig is lowered past a hoist. The h2o is heated past oil, gas, electricity or an open steam-pipage.

To check the effectiveness of the scald, rub the pare with the pollex to see if pilus comes away easily. Some machines have the thermostatic controls and timers. To reduce contamination, scalding water should be changed ofttimes, pigs should exist equally clean as possible at sticking, and bleeding should be fully completed before immersion.

In big factories pigs are transported through scalding tanks with rotating bars (Fig. 25) or through long scalding tanks stretching from the sticking point to the dehairing bespeak in the time required for an constructive scald.

Dehairing is washed with a specially formed scraper (bell scraper or knife). If the scald is effective all the hair can be removed by this manual method (Fig. 26). Another simple method is to dip the sus scrofa in a bath containing a hot resin agglutinative. The pig is removed from the bath and the resin allowed to set partially when information technology is peeled off pulling the hair with information technology from the root. This is less labour-intensive than scraping and produces a very clean skin. After utilize the adhesive is melted once again, strained to remove the pilus and returned to the tank.

Another method of removing dirt and hair in one functioning is to skin the carcass though this is only washed when the pare is required for leather goods.

With the simple scalding tank, dehairing and scalding may exist combined in one operation. Inside the tank are rotating rubber-tipped paddles which are started after closing the lid. As the hair is loosened by the scalding h2o it is removed past the rubbing event of the paddles against the skin (Fig. 27).

Singeing removes any remaining hairs, shrinks and sets the pare, decreases the number of adhering micro-organisms and leaves an attractive clean advent. It may exist done with a hand-held gas torch (Fig. 28). Automated systems transport the sus scrofa into a furnace and leave information technology long plenty for an effective singe.

After singeing, blackness deposits and singed hairs are scraped off (Fig. 29) and the carcass is thoroughly cleaned before evisceration begins.

SKINNING OF CATTLE AND SMALL RUMINANTS

Cattle

The outer side of the hide must never impact the skinned surface of the carcass. Operators must not touch the skinned surface with the hand that was in contact with the peel.

Combined horizontal/vertical methods

Head. After bleeding, while the fauna is still hanging from the shackling chain, the horns are removed and the head is skinned. The head is detached by cutting through the neck muscles and the occipital articulation. Hang the head on a claw (Fig. 30). Lower the carcass on its back into the dressing cradle.

Legs. Skin and remove the legs at the carpal (foreleg) and tarsal (hind leg) joints. The forelegs should not be skinned or removed before the carcass is lowered on to the dressing cradle or the cut surfaces will exist contaminated. The hooves may exist left attached to the hide.

	32. In the combined horizontal/ vertical dressing method the carcass is lowered on to a cradle, the legs, brisket and flanks are skinned, then the carcass is raised to the half-hoist position. Note that this is much less hygienic than verticaldressing on a rail
	33. Notation the possible contamination of the carcass by the intestines and the hibernate dragging on the floor in the combined horizontal/vertical dressing method
31. Correct cut lines for hide removal

Flaying. Cutting the skin along the heart line from the sticking wound to the tail. Using long firm strokes and keeping the pocketknife upwardly to forbid knife cuts on the carcass, skin the brisket and flanks, working backwards toward the round (Fig. 31). Skin udders without puncturing the glandular tissue and remove, leaving the supermammary glands intact and attached to the carcass. At this bespeak raise the carcass to the half-hoist position, the shoulders resting on the cradle and the rump at a good working height (Figs 32 and 33).

Clear the skin carefully from effectually the vent (anus) avoiding puncturing it and cut the abdominal wall carefully around the rectum. Tie off with twine to seal it. Pare the tail fugitive contamination of the skinned surface with the hibernate. Raise the carcass free of the floor and finish flaying.

Vertical methods

Loftier-throughput plants have overhead rail which convey the carcass from the sticking point to the chills. Hide removal is carried out on the hanging carcass (Figs 34, 35 and 36). The operations are as in the combined horizontal/vertical method, just as it is not possible to achieve the hide from ground level more than one operator is needed. A single operator may piece of work with a hydraulic platform which is raised and lowered every bit required.

Automatic hide pullers are used in high-throughput slaughterhouses. Some types pull the hide down from the hind, others from the shoulders upwards toward the rump.

Automation of hibernate removal reduces contamination since at that place is less handling of the carcass and less utilise of knives. Moving overhead rails likewise improve hygiene by reducing carcass contact with operators, equipment such as dressing cradles and with each other since carcasses are evenly spaced.

Small ruminants

Sheep fleeces can comport large volumes of clay and faeces into the slaughterhouse. It is impossible to avert contamination of sheep and lamb carcasses when the fleece is heavily soiled. The fleece or pilus must never touch the skinned surface, neither must the operator touch the skinned surface with the mitt that was in contact with the fleece.

34. The leg is freed from the skin and the hock cutting off

Combined horizontal/vertical method

The brute is turned on its dorsum and cuts are made from the knuckles down the forelegs. The neck, cheeks and shoulders are skinned. The throat is opened up and the gullet (nutrient-piping) is tied off (see Fig. 41). The skin on the hind legs is cut from the knuckles down to the tail root. The legs are skinned and the sheep is hoisted by a gambrel inserted into the Achilles tendons. A rip is fabricated down the midline and skinning proceeds over the flanks using special knives or the fists (see Fig. 39). The pelt is and then pulled down over the backbone to the caput. If the head is for human consumption it must be skinned or it volition be contaminated with blood, dirt and hairs.

Moving cratch and track system. The hanging carcass is lowered on to a horizontal conveyor made upwardly of a series of horizontal steel plates, bowed slightly and divided into sets big enough to cradle a single animal. Ii operators usually piece of work together on each lamb performing the legging operations and opening the skin to the stage where information technology can exist pulled off the back. When the gambrel is inserted into the hind legs it is hoisted on to a dressing rails.

Vertical method

At sticking the creature is shackled by one hind-leg and left to drain. Dressing commences with the free leg which is skinned and the foot removed (Fig. 37). A gambrel is inserted into this leg and hung on a runner on a dressing rail. The second leg is freed from the shackle, skinned and dressed, then hooked on to the other cease of the gambrel. The pare is opened downwards the midline and cleared from the rump.

A spreader frame (a bar U-shaped at each finish) spreads the front legs to simplify piece of work on the neck, breast and flanks. The front toes are held in each cease of the frame which is and so slung upward on to a separate travelling claw. The animal is therefore suspended past all 4 legs belly uppermost (Figs 38 and 39). Skinning continues as in the combined horizontal/vertical method. To clear the shoulders and flanks, the forelegs are freed from the spreader and the anxiety removed, the animal returning to a vertical position. The skin tin now be completely pulled off (Fig. twoscore), including the head if this is for consumption, though this takes some work with the knife. In both methods, later fleece removal the vent and food-pipage are cleaned and tied off (Fig.41).

37. Fleece removal starts with skinning the free hind leg. Care must exist taken to avoid the hibernate touching the skinned surface or the carcass volition exist contaminated with faecal affair
38. With forelegs in a spreader frame and hind legs in a gambrel, the sheep is suspended in a horizontal position	forty. Later on skinning the neck and breast, the front legs are freed and skinning continues in the vertical position with the flanks and dorsum
39. The fists can exist used to clear the fleece from the chest
	41. Later skinning the neck, the food-pipe is freed and tied off to foreclose regurgitation of tummy contents

EVISCERATION

With all species intendance must exist taken in all operations not to puncture the viscera (Fig. 42). All viscera must be identified with the carcass until the veterinary inspection has been passed. After inspection the viscera should exist chilled on racks etc. for better air circulation (Fig. 43).

Cattle

The brisket is sawn down the middle (Fig. 44). In the combined horizontal/ vertical arrangement this is done with the animal resting on the cradle. The carcass is then raised to the one-half-hoist position and when hibernate removal is complete the abdominal crenel is cut carefully forth the middle line. The carcass is then fully hoisted to hang clear of the floor so that the viscera fall out nether their own weight (Fig. 45). They are separated into thoracic viscera, paunch and intestines for inspection and cleaning (Figs 46 and 47). If any of the stomachs or intestines are to be saved for man consumption, ties are fabricated at the oesophagus/tummy, stomach/duodenum boundaries, the oesophagus and rectum having been tied off during hide removal. This prevents cantankerous-contamination between the paunch and the intestines.

Small ruminants

A modest cut is made in the intestinal crenel wall just above the brisket, and the fingers of the other hand are inserted to elevator the trunk wall away from the viscera every bit the cutting is connected to within about 5 cm of the cod fatty or udder.

The omentum is withdrawn, the rectum (tied off) loosened, and the viscera freed and taken out. The food-pipage (tied off) is pulled up through the diaphragm. The breastbone is split down the middle taking intendance not to puncture the thoracic organs which are then removed.

Pigs

Loosen and necktie off the rectum. Cut along the middle line through the skin and body wall from the crotch to the neck (Fig. 48). Cut through the pelvis and remove the float and sexual organs. In males the foreskin must not be punctured equally the contents are a serious source of contamination. All these organs are considered inedible.

42. When cutting through the abdomen wall, if the viscera are punctured their contents will severely contaminate the carcass	43. A portable rack suitable for hanging offal for chilling

44. A mechanical saw speeds the splitting of the brisket but intendance must exist taken non to puncture the viscera

47. A portable cart suitable for catching cattle stomachs and intestines with a separate tray for edible offal such as liver, eye and lungs

Remove the abdominal and thoracic viscera intact. Avoid contact with the floor or standing platform.

The kidneys are usually removed afterwards the carcass has been carve up down the backbone. The caput is usually left on until after chilling.

SPLITTING, WASHING AND DRESSING OF CARCASSES

Hygienic carcass splitting with simple equipment

Cattle

Work facing the back of the carcass. Split the carcass down the backbone (chine) with a saw or cleaver from the pelvis to the neck (Figs 49 and 50). Sawing gives a ameliorate event but bone dust must be removed (Fig. 51). If a cleaver is used, it may be necessary to saw through the rump and loin in older animals.

The saw and cleaver should exist sterilized in hot (82°C) h2o between carcasses. Power saws increase productivity.

48. The body wall is split downward the midline taking care not to puncture the viscera

49. Mechanical saw for splitting the backbone (chine) of beef carcasses	51. Carcasses should be spray-done to remove visible staining, paying particular attention to bone dust and the internal surface, just without using excessive amounts of water
50. Hand-saws are much slower than mechanical saws though they are preferable to cleavers which splinter basic

Pigs

These are suspended and are split downwards the courage as for cattle, but the caput is generally left intact (Fig. 94).

Sheep

Sheep and lamb carcasses are mostly sold entire. If necessary they can be divide by saw or cleaver, but a saw volition probably be necessary for older animals.

Carcass washing

The primary object of carcass washing is to remove visible soiling and blood stains and to ameliorate appearance later on spooky (Fig. 51). Washing is no substitute for adept hygienic practices during slaughter and dressing since it is probable to spread bacteria rather than reduce total numbers. Stains of gut contents must be cut off. Wiping cloths must non be used.

Carcass spraying will remove visible dirt and blood stains. H2o must be make clean. Soiled carcasses should be sprayed immediately after dressing earlier the soiling material dries, thus minimizing the time for bacterial growth. Under factory conditions bacteria will double in number every 20 or 30 minutes.

In addition to removing stains from the skinned surface, detail attention should be paid to the internal surface, the sticking wound and the pelvic region.

A moisture surface favours bacterial growth so but the minimum corporeality of water should be used and chilling should start immediately. If the cooler is well designed and operating efficiently the carcass surface will quickly dry out out, inhibiting bacterial growth.

Bubbling of the subcutaneous fatty is caused past spraying with water at excessively high pressure level, which may be due to the force per unit area in the system or a consequence of holding the spray nozzle likewise shut to the carcass.

Carcass dressing

The object of carcass dressing is to remove all damaged or contaminated parts and to standardize the presentation of carcasses prior to weighing. Specifications will differ in particular for different authorities. Veterinarian inspection of carcasses and offal can but be carried out by qualified personnel. Where signs of disease or impairment are establish the entire carcass and offal may exist condemned and must non enter the food concatenation, but more than often the veterinarian will require that sure parts, for example those where abscesses are present, be removed and destroyed. Mill personnel must non remove any diseased parts until they accept been seen by the inspector otherwise they may mask a general condition which should result in the whole carcass being condemned. Any instructions from the inspector to remove and destroy certain parts must be obeyed.

REFRIGERATION, HANDLING AND TRANSPORT OF CARCASSES AND MEAT

Refrigeration of carcasses

Carcasses should go into the libation as soon as possible and should be as dry out as possible. The object of refrigeration is to retard bacterial growth and extend the shelf-life. Spooky meat post-mortem from twoscore°C down to 0°C and keeping information technology cold will requite a shelf-life of upward to iii weeks, provided loftier standards of hygiene were observed during slaughter and dressing.

Carcasses must exist placed in the cooler immediately afterwards weighing. They must hang on rails and never touch the floor (Fig. 52). Afterward several hours the outside of a carcass volition feel cool to the touch, but the important temperature is that deep inside the carcass. This must be measured with a probe thermometer (non glass), and used as a guide to the efficiency of the cooling.

52. Sheep carcasses in the chill-room, hung on rails articulate of the floor and spaced to let air apportionment to speed drying

The charge per unit of cooling at the deepest point will vary co-ordinate to many factors including the efficiency of the cooler, the load, carcass size and fatness. As a general guide a deep muscle temperature of 6–7° C should be achieved in 28 to 36 hours for beef, 12 to 16 hours for pigs and 24 to 30 hours for sheep carcasses. Failure to bring downward the internal temperature speedily will consequence in rapid multiplication of bacteria deep in the meat resulting in off-odours and os-taint.

High air speeds are needed for rapid cooling simply these will atomic number 82 to increased weight losses due to evaporation unless the relative humidity (RH) is also high. Yet, if the air is near to saturation point (100 pct RH) then condensation will occur on the carcass surface, favouring mould and bacteria growth. A compromise between the two problems seems to be an RH of about 90 percent with an air speed of about 0.v m/second. Condensation volition likewise occur if warm carcasses are put in a cooler partially filled with cold carcasses.

The cooler should not be overloaded across the maximum load specified by the manufacturers and spaces should exist left betwixt carcasses for the cold air to circulate. Otherwise cooling will be inefficient and the carcass surface volition remain wet, favouring rapid bacterial growth forming slime (run into below).

In one case filled, a cooler should be closed and the door opened as little as possible to avoid sudden rises in temperature. When emptied, information technology should exist thoroughly done before refilling. Personnel treatment carcasses during loading and unloading operations should follow the strictest rules regarding their personal hygiene and wearable and should handle carcasses equally little as possible.

Marketing of meat under refrigeration

Chilled meat must exist kept cold until it is sold or cooked. If the cold chain is broken, condensation forms and microbes abound rapidly. The same rules about non overloading, leaving space for air circulation, opening doors as picayune as possible and observing the highest hygiene standards when handling the meat utilize. An ideal storage temperature for fresh meat is just higher up its freezing indicate, which is about - 1°C (- 3°C for salary because of the presence of salt). The expected storage life given by the International Institute of Refrigeration of diverse types of meat held at these temperatures is as follows:

Type of meat	Expected storage life at - 1°C
Beef	up to three weeks (four–5 with strict hygiene)
Veal	1–3 weeks
Lamb	x–15 days
Pork	1–2 weeks
Edible offal	7 days
Rabbit	5 days
Bacon	4 weeks (at - three°C)

Under commercial conditions, meat temperatures are rarely kept at - 1°C to 0°C, and then actual storage times are less than expected. The times would as well be reduced if RH were greater than 90 percent.

Meat should be placed in the refrigerator immediately following receipt. Any parts which show signs of mould growth or bacterial slime should be trimmed off and destroyed. Easily must exist thoroughly washed later treatment such trimmings and knives must exist sterilized in boiling water. The fridge should be thoroughly cleaned after finding such meat and should too exist cleaned on a regular basis.

Carcasses, quarters and large primals should not exist cut into smaller portions earlier it is necessary as this will expose a greater surface area for bacteria to grow. Freshly cutting surfaces are moist and provide a better medium for bacterial growth than the desiccated outer surfaces of cuts that have been stored for some time.

An accurate thermometer should be placed in the fridge and checked regularly. The temperature should remain within a narrow range (0° to + 1°C).

Transport of meat

Vehicles for transporting meat and carcasses should be considered as an extension of the refrigerated storage. The object must be to maintain the meat temperature at or about 0°C. Meat should be chilled to 0°C before loading. Meat should hang on rails, not on the floor. If stockinettes are put on carcasses they must be clean. Meat trucks should non comport anything other than meat.

The refrigeration is normally produced by injecting liquid nitrogen or carbon dioxide (CO_ii) into the compartment or by blowing air over CO₂ chunks (dry out water ice). The temperature in these vans can be set and controlled to minimize the temperature rise and to avoid condensation on the meat surface (Fig. 53).

Insulated vans without refrigeration may be refrigerated by adding dry ice. While this is a reasonably adept culling to the refrigerated truck it does not allow the temperature to be controlled.

Uninsulated vans and open trucks should not be considered as suitable send for meat, particularly in hot climates. In addition to the temperature abuse, condensation will occur when the meat goes back into refrigeration, and in open up trucks the meat is exposed to attack from insects. Loading and unloading should be washed rapidly. If there are whatever unavoidable delays then dry-ice blocks should be placed in the partly filled van.

53. Insulated vans with refrigeration units should be used for transporting meat

Carcass and meat handling and marketing without refrigeration

Where refrigeration is unavailable either owing to fiscal or technical reasons (e.one thousand. no ability supply), the shelf-life of meat is reduced to days or hours, not weeks. Slaughter and dressing must exist near the point of auction and it must exist quick and clean. If carcasses and meat are kept in well-insulated rooms, the temperature can be reduced with dry-ice blocks, if these are available. Since it is easier to chill boneless cuts rather than whole carcasses, hot-boning should exist considered.

Stock must exist handled carefully to avoid producing high-pH meat which will spoil more quickly. Rooms used for slaughter and handling meat must be clean and well ventilated, merely out of straight sunlight, grit-free and verminfree (rodents and insects). Hot water (82°C) must be available to clean all equipment and surfaces and personnel must work very hygienically. Receive all blood into sealed containers and have split up skips on wheels for hooves, skins, green offal and trimmings.

54. Processing and packing of offal must be washed in a room separated from the slaughter hall or other meat-handling facilities

Dressing on a vertical hoist will minimize contamination by floor or cradle contact. Permit nothing driblet on the floor, only into skips. Personal hygiene must exist scrupulous. Any spills of gut contents on to the meat should exist cut off, but conscientious work will avoid this. The dressed carcass should be hung on runway. If beef is quartered to facilitate handling, the cut surface is at take chances.

Scarlet offal should be hung on hooks. Any offal processing must be in rooms abroad from meat-handling facilities (Fig. 54). Intestines for homo consumption must be thoroughly cleaned and washed.

Storage and transport without refrigeration

Meat should be put on auction within a day of slaughter. If it has to exist held it should exist hung in a clean, well-lit hall with good ventilation. Insects, rodents and birds must exist kept out, grit must not blow in. Trays of offal should exist on shelves, not on the flooring. Barrows for wheeling carcasses and quarters are better than carrying on shoulders, as they tin be cleaned oftentimes. All staff must wear clean clothing and detect strict personal hygiene. Transport of not-refrigerated meat is very hazardous. If meat is to be put in stockinettes and sacks these must be very clean. Meat should exist on rails in the truck or wagon, and it is non advisable to carry it more than a 24-hour interval's journey before sale.

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Source: https://www.fao.org/3/t0279e/T0279E04.htm

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