Meat Processing To Meet Consumer's Requirements

Have you ever wondered how the meat passes through various stages after being obtained from animal to the end customer? Well, the whole process is quite a skilled process that requires plenty of attention to details.

- Prerana Bora

Meat in common words is known as the edible portion of animal tissues. Meat is often categorised based on the type of animal from which it is obtained. E.g. Red meat refers to the meat taken from mammals such as beef, pork and lamb; White meat refers to the meat taken from fish poultry or foul, like chicken, duck, turkey; Seafood refers to the meat taken from fish and shellfish, and ‘Game’ refers to meat taken from any wild animals or birds that are usually not domesticated. In addition to this, the meat is also identified by the live animal from which it has been obtained. E.g. Beef refers to the meat from cattle; Chicken refers to poultry; Veal from calves; Pork from hogs; Lamb from young sheep; Mutton from sheep older than two years; and so on.

In today’s world, there are plenty of meat industries soaring high in their business. Customers are challenging retailers and food service operators to create a value-added quality product with trusted authentic ingredients. With great public concern about food safety, there is a continuous increase in quality control and assurance of products with numerous parameters to check from farm to last mile delivery reaching the customers.

Meat processing is a labour intensive process that requires skilled labours for butchery. Processed meats are anything other than the meat itself such as: cuts; ground meat; sausage; marinated meats; etc., where the meat used must have been slaughtered in a food safety inspected facility. To sell it to the customers the processed meat must be produced in a certified facility. Meat processing involves various steps. Some of the important steps are mentioned below:

Meat Fabrication: