Meat Processing and Value Addition

• Meat processing involves mechanical, chemical, or enzymatic treatments to alter meat's original form.
• Value addition occurs when raw material is processed, increasing its market value
• Carcass meat serves as the raw material for meat processing.
• Value addition significantlyimproves the eating characteristics of meat products.

Purposes of Meat Value Addition are:

• To create a variety of products
• To increase demand and marketability
• To meet shelf life requirements
• To efficiently use carcasses and byproducts
• To add non-meat ingredients for safety, quality, and economy
• To preserve quality during transport and distribution

Functions of Meat Processing

• To preserve quality and extend shelf life
• To increase quality
• To increase safety
• To manipulate ingredients and formulate products
• To control portion size
• To increase convenience

Preservation and Shelf Life

• Chilling
• Packaging (MAP, vacuum, active packaging)
• Antimicrobials
• Antioxidants
• Irradiation

Increasing Quality

• Tenderness: tenderization
• Juiciness: injection
• Flavor: marination, injection
• Taste: injection, rubbing, marination
• Color: (methods not detailed, implied chemical or packaging control)

Increasing Safety

• Cooking is the MOST common safety method
• Antimicrobials (must eliminate pathogens, not just delay spoilage)
• Irradiation
• Packaging

Manipulating Ingredients

• Improve texture, binding, sensory qualities
• Enhance flavor
• Modify nutrition (e.g., adjust fat, protein, salt)

Controlling Portion Size

• Trimming
• Size reduction
• Packaging

Increasing Convenience

• RTC (Ready-To-Cook)
• RTE (Ready-To-Eat)
• IQF (Individually-Quick-Frozen)
• Cook-in-bag
• Sous-vide

Types of Processing

• Minimal Processing
• Further Processing

Minimal Processing

• There is no change in chemical composition
• Examples include raw, intact cuts; raw, non-intact (e.g., cubed beef); edible offal/variety meats; and raw, lean recovered meats.

Further Processing

• Changes chemical composition
• Examples are raw, non-intact meat with ingredients; processed but not thermally treated (e.g., marinated steaks); thermally treated (e.g., cooked ham); and commercially sterile (e.g., canned meat).

Preservation and Shelf Life

• Shelf life: Time before meat becomes unpalatable, unsafe, or unattractive.

Limitations to Shelf Life

• Perishable due to neutral pH (5.3–6.5), high water activity, and nutrient richness for microbial growth.
• Exposure to oxygen (causes oxidation and microbial growth) and fluorescent light (affects color and oxidation).

Methods to Extend Shelf Life

• Chilling
• Freezing
• Freeze drying
• Heat pasteurization
• Heat sterilization
• Curing
• Smoking
• Dehydration
• Irradiation
• Use of antimicrobials and antioxidants
• Packaging technologies such as vacuum packaging, MAP (Modified Atmosphere Packaging), and active packaging.

Special Notes on Chilling

• Mechanical refrigeration is critical.
• Without refrigeration, meat spoils within hours.
• In regions without refrigeration, traditional methods like smoking, curing, and drying are used.

End of Shelf Life

• Spoilage
• Oxidation

Spoilage

• Appearance: slimy due to organic acids, molds/yeasts.
• Discoloration: pH change.
• Aroma and Flavor: offensive odors from bacteria.
• Texture: changes (slimy, mushy).

Oxidation

• Appearance: subtle changes.
• Discoloration: browning.
• Aroma and Flavor: rancid due to lipid/protein oxidation.
• Texture: not much change.

Key Takeaways

• Using antimicrobials for quality preservation slows spoilage microbes, while using them for safety targets harmful pathogens.
• Refrigeration extends shelf life by slowing microbial growth and biochemical changes.
• Meat merchandising without refrigeration involves traditional preservation (curing, drying, smoking), selling meat quickly, and butchering on demand.