All meat slaughter premises currently remove the hide and viscera from carcasses immediately after slaughter, and refrigerate the carcass and viscera separately for export. Meat has been processed and exported like this since the first shipment of frozen meat left Dunedin bound for Britain in 1882.
The major difference with the INTACT carcass process is that carcasses are frozen prior to hide removal and evisceration. The carcasses can be exported to another country in this form, where they are thawed, dressed, inspected (if required), boned and packed. By exporting carcasses in this form the skin and lining of the gastrointestinal tract act as a natural packaging for meat and consequently the meat and offal are totally sterile when the customer receives the carcass at the destination market.
BACKGROUND AND BRIEF OVERVIEW
NOLCHIRI PROCESS
INTACT frozen carcasses that are thawed prior to hide removal/evisceration can be dressed easily. Skin elasticity returns when the subcutaneous tissues are thawed, enabling hide removal and evisceration to be completed easily, even if the gastrointestinal tract is still partially frozen.
DRESSING INTACT CARCASSES AFTER THAWING
-
Meat from INTACT carcasses is safer and more hygienic compared to meat produced by usual meat processing methods because there are no bacteria on the meat and offal on arrival at a meat premises in the export market.
-
Meat from intact carcasses that is dressed in the export market is much safer than meat from traditionally butchered carcasses because:
- The carcass is shorn and clean prior to dressing, minimizing the number of bacteria transferred to the carcass during dressing.
- The carcass is cold when it is dressed, minimizing growth of any bacteria following dressing.
-
Each individual carcass can be traced back to the farm of origin in NZ, i.e. each carcass can have the farm of origin printed on the carcass ticket. Note that traceability is becoming a major concern to many consumers in export markets.
TECHNICAL BENEFITS OF THE INTACT PROCESS
For those who are unfamiliar with microbiological tests used in the meat industry:
-
Aerobic Plate Count (APC) is often referred to as Total Plate Count and is a measure of the total bacterial population.
-
Escherichia coli (E.coli) are a group of bacteria that live in the gastrointestinal tract of animals. E.coli counts are used to indicate if a product has been contaminated with food poisoning bacteria originating from the gastrointestinal tract. Gastrointestinal bacteria contaminate the carcass either directly or from contact with skin that is contaminated with faecal material.
-
Microbiological results from samples collected from the surface of muscles under the skin of INTACT carcasses stored frozen for 8.5 months were as follows:
- All three APC test results were nil detected.
- All three E.coli test results were nil detected.
-
Microbiological results from samples collected from various locations in the abdomen of INTACT carcasses stored frozen for 8.5 months were as follows:
- Five of seven APC test results were nil detected and the other two results were very low counts (14cfu/sq cm & 10cfu/sq cm), probably from contamination of the sampling site by the butcher's hand after opening the abdomen and prior to collecting the sample.
- All seven E.coli test results were nil detected.
-
These results confirm that the skin and gastrointestinal tract act as an effective barrier to microorganisms. Note that there are also numerous test results from other intact carcasses sampled after six to eight weeks storage that confirm this.
-
In comparison, traditionally dressed carcasses normally have APC counts between 100 cfu/sq cm and 10,000 cfu/sq cm and approx. 50% of samples are positive for E.coli.
MICROBIOLOGY OF INTACT CARCASSES
NZ is a great place to grow grass and rear animals but manufacturing is not cost effective here. This process provides the sheep industry with an opportunity to combine the best of what NZ can do (grow grass/animals) with the best that Asian and Middle East countries can do (manufacturing) to maximise the value of lambs.
Reasons for increased revenue compared to traditionally frozen lamb:
Harvest of additional high value products:
-
Higher value products – Many carcass parts currently used for either meat & bone meal or pet food can be harvested for high value use if the carcasses are dressed/processed in a suitable export market.
-
Examples of parts of lamb carcasses that are normally discarded for meat & bone meal or pet food during traditional meat processing/export that can harvested for high value products with the INTACT process:
- Head.
- Oesophagus.
- Neck trimmings.
- A significant part of the gastrointestinal tract.
- Hooves.
- Blood vessels.
- Spleen.
- Lungs.
- Pancreas.
- Gall bladder.
- Trachea and bronchi.
-
When carcasses are processed in the export market, the processor has the ability to respond to market forces immediately and harvest all products that are desirable and of value at that time. Eliminating any stockpiling of product only to find there is no market for it.
-
Animal products are often handled and traded completely differently in other countries. Providing the export customer with the “raw material” allows them to process the carcass and distribute the products in a manner that works best in their culture and is most cost effective.
Reduced costs/wastage:
-
Reduced hygiene compliance costs – The operational cost of complying with overseas market access requirements in the red meat industry is huge. The simplicity of this process removes most of these costs.
-
Reduced wastage due to non-complying product – because the process is so simple, it is very unlikely that product will be downgraded due to non-compliance with market access requirements.
-
Reduced health & safety compliance costs – The simplicity of this process means there is far less risk of people hurting themselves.
-
Reduced labour cost - The simplicity of this process means that carcasses can be processed in NZ at a fraction of the labour cost and the labour cost in suitable destination markets is low.
-
Reduced capital cost to build a premises – The simplicity of this process means that only a very small premises is required compared to a traditional premises, we estimate the premises will only cost about 20% of a premises required to process the same number of lambs.
-
Reduced maintenance costs – Again, because the premises is so much smaller than a traditional premises, it will cost a lot less to maintain.
-
No evaporative weight loss from carcasses.
-
No packaging required because the skin is the packaging for the product.
FINANCIAL BENEFITS OF THE INTACT PROCESS
Overview of traditionally exported lamb:
-
Lamb is currently exported either chilled in vacuum packs (approx. 25%) or frozen (approx. 75%). There are pro’s and con’s for each product as follows:
- Chilled VP product has a higher value because it is tender, juicy and has good colour stability providing processing hygiene/cold chain/distribution/handling in the market etc. are good. However, shelf life of chilled product can be a problem since it takes three to five weeks for the product to arrive in the export market and from there it needs to be distributed for sale. This can result in product going off either before or after sale and/or colour stability being compromised.
- Most meat is still exported in frozen form since the problem with shelf life is overcome. However, the product is not as tender or juicy as chilled/aged product and colour stability is not as good, with product developing a brown colour after a couple of days. However, people are used to handling frozen meat and know that it needs to be cooked shortly after thawing, so colour stability is not normally an issue.
-
It is not possible to rate one (chilled or frozen) above the other, they simply have different attributes. For example, the bulk of chilled product is packed at times of the year (e.g. Christmas and Easter) when high volumes of meat are turned over in the market so that the product is sold/cooked well before the end of the shelf life.
Intact carcass meat:
-
The tenderness of intact carcass meat is as good as chilled/aged meat and juiciness is if anything better, but the colour stability of intact carcass meat is similar to traditionally frozen meat. Colour stability is improved by administering Vitamin C pre slaughter, however it is still not quite as good as chilled meat.
-
Colour stability is not an issue if the meat is vacuum packed and chilled or frozen after dressing or if the product is sold to consumers shortly after dressing.
Comparison of intact carcass meat and traditionally chilled/frozen meat:
-
As above, intact carcass meat has different attributes to both traditionally chilled and frozen meat. My assessment is that on balance it is better than either for the following reasons:
- Unlike chilled/aged meat, it will not go off in the market because it is already near the market when it is dressed/packed (so it is sold three to five weeks sooner than product exported chilled ) and it has much less microbiological contamination during slaughter so it is significantly less prone to spoiling anyway.
- The meat tastes as good as chilled/aged meat even though it is not aged.
PRODUCT QUALITY COMPARISON
Subject to market access approval by importing authorities, meat from intact carcasses could be packed/sold as follows:
-
Sold directly to consumers after thawing/dressing.
-
Packed in chilled vacuum packs for sale within the country they are packed in or exported to another country for sale.
-
Packed in frozen vacuum packs for sale within the country they are packed in or exported to another country for sale.
-
Sold to consumers shortly after thawing/dressing.
-
Re-frozen in bulk pack form for storage awaiting thawing for manufacturing/sale.