meat science test 1

what is meat

animal tissues that are suitable for use as food; including all processed or manufactured products that might be prepared from these tissues; a major portion of humans protein and energy needs

what is meat science

the study of tissues; a component of all facets of the meat industry beginning with animal production and ending with final preparation of meat for consumption; development of new products and improvement of old ones

humane methods of slaughter act of 1978

humane handling and stunning practices and procedures; applying to ALL non exempt federal and state plants; exemption is ritual slaughter; standards for maintenance and condition of pens, driveways, slaughter facilities; use of electrical prods: <50V and subject to inspector approval; no dragging unless stunned; access to water, access to feed if held >24 hr; approved stunning methods; stunning before being shackled, hoisted, thrown, cast, or cut

handling

free of fear and pain so meat quality is better; fasted for 12-24 hrs before slaughter so ease of evisceration and minimal of GI bacterial contamination; free access to water to facilitate electrical stunning and ease of blood and pelt removal and brighten lean color

stunning

comatize and not kill; render animals unconscious without feeling pain; proper and effective stunning is continuous breating and heart beating, medualla oblogata not destroyed

signs of properly stunned animals

floppy head and neck, straight and limp tongue, relaxing tail, NO RIGHTING REFLEX, captive bolt: NO TRACKING EYE MVMT with a blank stare, electrical stunning: blank stare with or without nystagmus, NO RHYTHMIC BREATHING, no response to nose pinch or pinprick on the nose, NO VOCALIZATION

mechanical stunning

concussion in poultry or penetration in cattle, captive bolt stunning gun

electrical stunning

swine and sheep, head only and head to back and head to rib, issues: bone breakage and ecchymosis, stun to stick interval 60s, guidelines: wetted, no hot wands, electrode position, no double stun, 1.25 amps, less than 3s

chemical stunning

CO2 is only approved substance, no broken bones, no kicking, stun to stick interval not critical, length of unconsciousness related to length of time in CO2

exsanguination (bleeding)

postion: horizontal, vertical, horizontal for swine by reducing stun to stick interval, location: sever carotid arteries and jugular veins and other blood vessels

dressing (drop)

everything from animals except carcass; head and hide and feet and internal organs (offals), by products, dress off items, variety meats (only some items of drops)

dressing slaughter

process of killing animal, usually by blood loss

dressing

steps needed to remove all drop items and leaving only hot carcass on the rail, blood is part of drop items

transportation loss

drift or shrink, weight loss during transportation, 100*(pat wt/live wt) = 0 to 10%; highly dependent on travel and species: long bs short haul, monogastric vs ruminant

what is the typical pencil shrink in cattle

4%

dressing loss

drop, everything from animals except carcass, offals, by products, dress off items, drop items

chill loss

cooler shrinkage; moisture evaporation; blast chill= 2% HCW; spray chill= 1% HCW; cant can weight

processing loss

breaking loss and cutting loss

breaking loss

sawdust: bone/meat dust, moisture evaporation, tissue loss on equipment and employees, ~4%

cutting loss

loss caused by further fabrication after breaking, lean trimming and fat trimming and bone, ~ 25%

retail loss

sale loss: discount and theft and reworks, most frequently shoplifted items are ribeye, largest meat item ever stolen is whole turkey

cooking loss

at home cooking loss: unnecessary trimming, overcooked, unused portion; 30%; retail or foodservice cooking loss: moisture evaporation is 10-15% and customer rejection or expired; plate waste is varied

dressing percentage

very important to packers, higher DP means more meat to sell, originally based on cold carcass weight now on HCW, percentage of pay wt that is represented by carcass

dressing percentage calculation

DP+ (HCW/pat wt) *100%; pay wt is the weight of live animal based on which the packers pay the sellers

dressing percentage vs yield

people in the meat and livestock industries often refer DP as yield; dont confuse such “yield” with USDA yield grade

factors influencing DP

fill, fasting, fatness, degree of muscling, mud, sex and class, species

fill

content of GI tract, greatly affect DP, GI tract of a large dairy cow has capacity of 55 gal beer vat

fasting

increases DP if paid on fasted wt, decreases DP if paid on arrival wt, decreases bleeding efficiency

fatness

increased fatness leads to increased DP

degree of muscling

increased ribeye area is increased DP

mud

increased mud score leads to decreased DP, dingle berries are mud balls

sex and class

bull>steer>heifer>cow; boar>barrow>gilt>sow; ram>wether>ewelamb>ewe

species

sheep 50%; cattle 60%; beef cattle 62%; broilers 60%; swine 70%

physical contamination

metal shavings, broken glass, wood splinter, bandages

chemical contamination

cleansers, metal leaching, pesticides

biological contamination

bacteria, fungi, viruses, parasites

microbiological causes of illnesses

causes: viruses, parasites, chemicals, toxins; most common is bacteria; 250 foodborne pathogens

food infection

bacteria are consumed; body reacts by raising temp; longer incubation

food intoxication

toxin-contaminated food is consumed, shorter incubation

what are the top 5 foodborne illnesses

salmonella, toxoplasma, listeria, norovirus, campylobacter

bacterial transmission

reservoir: animals and human; impact factors: nature of organisms, reservoir, handling, processing, cross-contamination; points of contamination: on farm, at slaughter, during processing, at retail, at home

why is foodborne zoonosis important?

infected food animals look healthy, sustanied or repaeted infections in animals, contaminated food looks normal, pathogen survives standard processing and preparation, missed by current inspection strategies, spreads silently around the globe, requires new control strategies, more to be discovered

campylobacter jejuni aka campylobacteriosis

leading cause of bacterial diarrhea, 2.4 million people effected each year, 5-15% of all diarrheal illnesses worldwide

sources of campylobacter jejuni

raw or undercooked poultry, non-chlorinated water, raw milk, infected animal or human feces

clinical signs of campylobacter jejuni

diarrhea, abdominal cramps, fever, nausea, lasting 2-5 days

guillian-barre syndrome

leading cause of acute paralysis, develops 2-4 weeks after campylobacter infection (after symptoms dissappear)

salmonella aka salmonellosis

gram negative bacteria, many serotypes can cause disease, entertidis and typhimurium, most common species in the US

sources of salmonella

raw poultry and eggs, raw milk, raw beef, unwashed fruit, alfalfa sprouts, reptile pets

clincial signs of salmonella

diarrhea, fever, cramps, takes 12-72 hours to occur, lasts 4-7 days

Escherichia coli aka E. Coli O157:H7

enterohemorrhagic, EHEC, surface proteins, toxin

sources of E. Coli

undercooked or raw hamburger (salami), alfalfa sprouts, lettuce, unpasteurized milk, apple juice or cider, well water, animals

clinical signs of E. Coli

watery or bloody diarrhea, nausea, cramps, takes 2-5 days to occur, lasts 5-10 days

what other syndromes does E. Coli cause

Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS), acute kidney failure in children, life threatening

Listeria monocytogenes aka listeriosis

vary dangerous to pregnant and immunocompromised, crosses placental membrane and blood brain barrier, multiple species but only one is a threat to humans, ready to eat meats, already cooked, and refrigerated, can last in 0 to 45 degrees celsius

sources of listeria

raw meats and most commonly ready to eat meats

symptoms of listeria

abortions and stillbirths, septicemia in young or immunocompromised

clostridum botulinum aka botulism

neurotoxin leads to flaccid paralysis, infants at greatest risks, around 10-30 outbreaks a year, roughly 110 cases a year

sources of botulism

canned foods, fermented meats, honey

clinical signs of botulism

double vision, drooping eyelids, difficult speaking and swallowing, takes 18-36 hours to occur

norovirus aka stomach flu or stomach bug

leading cause of vomiting and diarrhea and foodborne illness, people of all ages can get infected and sick with norovirus, annually 19-21 million cases, roughly 2500 outbreaks a year

sources of norovirus

food services, leafy greens, fresh fruits, shellfish

clinical signs of norovirus

nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach pain, headache, fever, and body aches, takes 12-48 hours to occur

why do we need meat inspection

about 90 diseases and parasites of animals can be transmitted to humans by consumption of improperly cooked meat, the meat inspection act of 1906 was passed to help prevent diseased meat from reaching consumers and to ensure that meat is processed and stored under sanitary conditions

what is FSIS

Food Safety and Inspection Service

which president founded the USDA in 1862

president Lincoln

when was the first law signed requiring inspection of meat products

1890 by president benjamin harrison

what important inspection act was passed in 1906

the meat inspection act of 1906

what was the agricultural marketing act

inspection of exotic and game animals on a fee-for-service basis

what was the poultry products inspection act

poultry inspection was required for interstate commerce

what act was the equal to act and define it

wholesome meat act and required state inspection to be equal to federal inspection

when did the FSIS require all retail meats to have nutritional labels

1994

what do meat inspectors identify meat as

healthy, sound, wholesome, properly labeled

what are the purposes of meat inspection

to ensure that meat is healthy, sound, wholesome, and properly labeled

what are the basic functions of federal meat inspection

1. detection and destruction of diseased or contaminated meat

2. assurance of clean and sanitary handling and preparation

3. minimization of microbial contamination

4. prevention of adulteration

5. prevention of false labeling

6. application of inspection stamps

what are the areas of responsibility for a meat inspector

1. facilitites construction and operational sanitation

2. assurance that all plats adopt HACCP

3. assurance that SSOPs are practiced

4. antemortem inspection

5. postmortem inspection

6. verification of HACCP system effectiveness

7. oversight of E. Coli protocols and Salmonella testing

8. product inspection

9. lab determinations

10. control and restriction of condemned products

11. marking, labeling, and inspection insignia

what are SSOPs

Sanitation Standard Operating Procedures

facility concerns for inspection

rail height, wall and floor materials, exits and opening, lighting

rail height

beef carcass rail must be 10’2” from floor, prevents carcass from dragging

wall and floor materials

must be nonporous and easily cleaned

exits and opening

prevent insect contamination

lighting

inspectors must be able to see product

wholesome meat act of 1967

“equal to” law states that inspection programs of states must be equal to that of the federal government

talmadage-aiken act of 1962

TA plants are federally inspected but staffed by state employees

Curtis amendment

custom slaughterers/cutters/processors, farm animals for farmer, game animals for hunters, farmers exemption for own use and family and non-paying guests.

inspection

refers to wholesomeness or fit to eat; healthy, sound, wholesome, properly labeled; MANDATORY; its about safety and accurate labeling; paid for by government; adminstered by office of field operation of USDAs FSIS

grading

refers to quality or meat yield of carcasses; important to processors and producers; VOLUNTARY; helpful to consumers; paid for by companies using this service; adminstered by USDAs agricultural marketing service

U.S Suspect (antemortem)

gets further inspection of kill floor, seriously crippled, reactors to TB test, immature animals, minor epithelioma of the eye or orbital region

U.S. Condemned (antemortem)

must be tanked or released for treatment, downers and deads and moribund, comatose, temp above 105, suspect dies in pen, animals with obvious symptoms of a disease

U.S. Inspected and Passed (postmortem)

good for consumption as raw product

U.S. inspected and condemned

whole carcass or parts are tanked

U.S. retained

railed off for more inspection

U.S. passed for cooking

reinspect and if acceptable must be cooked prior to shipment

reasons for rejecting imported meat products

contamination, processing defects, transportation damage, pathological defects

rendering

condemned for inedible fats, greases, or oils

tanked

condemned and made into animal feed or fertilizer

incinerated

condemned and burned

chemically denatured

kerosene, diesel, carbolic acid

frozen

condemned and held at -10f for five days and sold as animal feed

what are the four key provisions for meat and poultry inspection framework

sanitations SOPs, testing for generic E. Coli, Salmonella performance standards, HACCP

standard operating procedures

sanitation procedures the plant would conduct before and during operation to prevent direct product contamination or adulteration; wash tables, equipment clean and sanitized, floor free of food or debris