Meat Processing Industry to Promote the Progress in Sensible Way

by

Mst.Mariam Begum

The meat packing industry handles the slaughtering, processing and distribution of animals such as cattle, pigs, sheep and other livestock. The industry is primarily focused on producing meat for human consumption, but it also yields a variety of by-products including hides, feathers, dried blood, and, through the process of rendering, fat such as tallow and protein meals such as meat & bone meal.

In the U.S. and some other countries, the facility where the meat packing is done is called a meat packing plant; in New Zealand, where most of the products are exported, it is called a freezing works. An abattoir is a place where animals are slaughtered for food. The meat packing industry grew with the construction of the railroads and methods of refrigeration. Railroads made possible the transport of stock to central points for processing, and the transport of products throughout the nation.

Mid-century restructuring by the industry of the stockyards, slaughterhouses and processing led to relocating facilities closer to cattle feedlots and swine production facilities, to more rural areas, as transportation shifted from rail to truck. It has been difficult for labor to organize in such locations. In addition, the number of jobs fell sharply through technology and other changes. The meat packing industry has made many improvements since the early 1900s; extensive changes in the industry since the late 20th century have caused new labor issues to arise. Today, the rate of injury in the meat packing industry is three times that of private industry overall.

Canada’s slaughtering and meat-processing sector comprises livestock slaughter and carcass dressing, secondary processors who manufacture and package meat products for retail sale, and purveyors that prepare portion-ready cuts for hotel, restaurant and institutional food service. Products include fresh, chilled or frozen meats; cured meats; fresh and cooked sausage; canned meat preparations; animal oils and fats; and tank-house products such as bone and meat meal.

Meat processing has always been among Canada’s most regulated industries. The Superior Council of New France established regulations in 1706 to control the sale of meat in different seasons and required that butchers advise a colonial official prior to the slaughter of a food animal. Inspection was required to ensure that the animal was healthy and that its meat would be fit for sale. By 1805, Lower Canada had passed an Act to Regulate the Curing, Packing and Inspection of Beef and Pork. This legislation specified the weight and quality of meat cuts included in the pack, the quality of the barrels, and the amount of preservative required in the pickle.

In the early nineteenth century most meat originated with farm slaughter and village butchers, but meatpacking for export and to provision ships was becoming appreciable. By the 1850s production scale began to increase and butcher craftsmen established retail enterprises and meat-packing concerns to exploit the British bacon market. Hogs were slaughtered, the carcasses were dressed, and red meat was cured and packed in barrels filled with brine during the winter months.

As meat processing industrialized, hundreds of the smallest butcher firms were absorbed by larger enterprises, which sought out international markets for their meat exports. By 1900 only 57 packing facilities remained, but over the preceding decade capital investment more than doubled, employment jumped from 1,700 to 2,400, and sales climbed to a new peak of $22.2 million. The last decade of the nineteenth century saw beef processing grow to opponent pork.

The development of industrial meat packing in the American Midwest during the 1870s influenced meat processing in Canada. A growing railway network enabled the procurement of livestock from a vast hinterland and the distribution of chilled meat using reefer cars. Meat processing grew rapidly during World War I and many packers earned windfall profits. But the industry was left with surplus capacity in the 1920s, which prompted the withdrawal of several large American meat packers from the Canadian market and the creation of Canada Packers.

When a large group of cattle is ready for sale, their owner obtains bids from meat packers. A packing company buyer visits the feedlot and looks over the cows before making his bid. The owner makes sure the price is satisfactory by listening to market reports on the radio and getting bids from other meat-packers. When the owner and packing company agree upon a price, the cattle is shipped to the company’s plant.

Most meat-packing plants are located near the source of cattle. The largest plants are located in Kansas and Nebraska, where most cows are bred and raised. Most cows are, therefore, transported to the plants by truck or rail. When a cow arrives at the meat-packing plant, it is rested and watered before inspection by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). They want to make sure the cows are healthy and do not have any health problems that could taint the meat. The goals of killing and taking apart cattle are to slaughter each animal humanely, efficiently, and hygienically. The treatment of the animals before slaughter and the hygiene of the meat after slaughter is closely monitored by the USDA.

Meat goes through more than 25 processes before it is ready to be sold to a butcher or supermarket. These processes are carried out very quickly by skilled workers. Some cattle plants can slaughter up to 150 cows in one hour. First, a cow is confined in a small pen and made unconscious by a mechanical stunner. Workers then kill the cow by shooting it in the head. They suspend the carcass of the dead cow from an overhead rail for the dressing processes. In dressing, workers bleed the cow and remove its hide and appendages. A fine mist of an acidic solution, usually vinegar and water, as well as an alkaline solution called tri-sodium phosphate (TSP) are sprayed on the carcass after the hide is removed. This process prevents certain bacteria from attaching to the outside of the carcass.

National Beef Packing Company is one of the largest beef processing companies in the United States, processing and marketing fresh beef and beef by-products across the U.S. and internationally. Their processing facilities in Dodge City, Kansas and Liberal, Kansas along with our Brawley, California facility provides beef products to retailers, food service providers, distributors and further processors. This company also provides further processed and packaged meat for a broad spectrum of customer needs and specifications. We continue to develop core capabilities and drive value for the products we deliver to the marketplace.

Mst. Mariam Begum, Content Writer, Bee IT Ltd.

bengalmeat.com

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