Meat Production & Nutritional Value

• Meat producing animals are used for human consumption.
• Food animals fall into 2 categories: conventional and non-conventional.
• Conventional food animals include livestock, buffalo, sheep and goats.
• Non-conventional food animals include ox, deer, horses, camels, alpaca, llama, etc.
• Poultry such as chicken, ducks, geese, turkey and pigeons are major meat producing species.
• Food animals yield additional by-products which influence the economic value of the total process.

Nutritional Contributions

• Protein is a critical component, with muscle tissue containing 95% nitrogen.
• Protein contributes to tissue building, energy reserves, and provides a complete amino acid source.
• Minerals such as iron, zinc and phosphorus are present.
• Excellent vitamin sources are present.
• B-complex vitamins like thiamin, niacin and riboflavin are included.
• Vitamins B6 and B12 are present.
• Fat insulates, protects and is a concentrated energy supply.
• Meat is a saturated fat source.

Food Inspections

• Animals can harbour diseases and infections which make them unfit for human consumption.
• Diseases and parasites from animals can transmit to humans when meat is improperly cooked and consumed.
• Meat inspections help prevent diseased meat from reaching consumers, ensuring processing occurs and storage takes place under sanitary conditions
• Inspection of carcass and offal occurs after slaughter to determine its fitness for human comsumption.
• Meat hygiene standards includes supervision at each operation from the food animals bleeding to consumption.
• Supervision extends through butcher shops, markets, restaurants, meat processing plants, cold storage and meat manufacturing industries.

Effect of Bruising and Injury

• Bruising and injury significantly impacts meat quality, animal welfare and economic returns.
• Bruises and injuries typically arise from poor handling, transportation or pre-slaughter stress.
• Muscle tissues are damaged causing an affect on the appearance, and may lead to loss of edible meat.
• The causes of bruising and injury are rough handling, transportation stress, inadequate facilities, aggression among animals, and pre-existing conditions.
• Bruising results from blood escaping damaged blood vessels into the surrounding muscle.
• Bruising is commonly caused by physical trauma to the body due to animal horns, metal objects and falls that can happen during handling, transport or stunning.
• Bruise sizes can range from superficial to severe involving whole limbs and carcasses.
• Bruised meat is unsuitable for use as food.

Meat Composition

• Meat consists of biological components determining its nutritional value, flavor, texture and cooking properties.
• The primary contents of meat include water, protein, fat, minerals and vitamins.
• Water makes up 65-75% of the meat's composition.
• Water proportion affects juiciness, texture and serves as a medium for chemical reactions and nutrient transport within the muscle.
• Water lost during cooking reduces weight and affects tenderness.
• Protein is 16–22% of meat and vital for structural integrity and overall nutrition.
• Myofibrillar proteins (50–55%) are types of proteins that includes myosin, actin and tropomyosin and contribute to muscle integrity and contraction as well as the texture.
• Lipid oxidation occurs when fats react with oxygen which causes rancidity.
• Lipid oxidation results in off-flavors and odors.
• Lipid oxidation can cause a loss of nutritional value, particularly in unsaturated fats.
• Myoglobin is what determines meat color.
• The states of myoglobin include deoxymyoglobin, oxymyoglobin and metmyoglobin.
• Deoxymyoglobin has a purplish-red color in the absence of oxygen.
• Oxymyoglobin has a bright red color in the presence of oxygen and is commonly expected and preferred by consumers.
• Metmyoglobin has a brownish-gray color from oxidation and indicates spoilage or aging.
• pH, oxygen exposure and storage conditions influence myoglobin states.
• Meat acidity is determined by the pH level of the muscle tissue after slaughter, which affects meat quality, safety, and shelf life.
• Meat pH is influenced by glycogen breakdown and lactic acid accumulation.
• Living animals have muscle tissue recorded at pH 7.0 (neutral).
• Glycolysis converts muscle glycogen to lactic acid after slaughter which causes the pH to drop to 5.4–5.8 in normal meat.
• The pH of 5.4-5.8 helps improve meat quality by inhibiting microbial growth and enhancing tenderness.

Antemortem Inspection

• Ante-mortem means before death.
• Inspection of live animals and birds takes place before slaughter.
• An ante-mortem inspection (AMI) checks live animals before slaughter to ensure they're healthy and free from disease.
• Ante-mortem inspections guarantee the fitness for human consumption.
• Veterinarians enforce these checks at meat slaughterhouses or abattoirs.
• Checking the body condition, emaciation or abnormal swelling ensures the well-being of live animals.
• Skin and coat inspections look for lesions, wounds, or signs of parasitic infestation.
• Eyes and mucous membrane inspections look for redness, jaundice, or excessive discharge.
• Nose and mouth inspections check for nasal discharge, coughing, or excessive salivation.
• Breathing and coughing checks for signs of respiratory disease.
• Limbs and mobility checks for lameness, swollen joints, or fractures.
• Fever or systemic illness such as foot-and-mouth disease, Anthrax, causes a rejection of the meat.
• Severe lameness or injury causes suffering and leads to rejection.
• Skin diseases like ringworm, mange hinder hygiene and makes meat unlikely to get approved.
• Respiratory infections with signs of coughing or labored breathing require for meat to get rejected.
• Neurological disorders like Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, Mad Cow Disease can cause rejection.
• Severe emaciation, dehydration, recent drug treatment and antibiotic residues contribute to having meat rejected.
• Abnormalities during this examination includes respiration, behavior, gait, posture, structure, conformation, discharges, protrusions, color and odor.

Post-Mortem Examination

• Detect diseases or conditions affecting the animal before slaughter.
• Identify zoonotic diseases that may pose a risk to public health.
• Determine meat quality and assessing its fitness for humans.
• Assure compliance with meat inspection regulations.

Post-Mortem Inspection

• Observation is the act of scanning for bruises, lesions and swelling.
• Palpation is feeling for abnormalities like abscesses or tumors.
• Incision is cutting to see if there are internal issues.
• Smell is checking for infection and/or spoilage.

Post-Examination Actions

• If there are no abnormalities meat gets human consumption approval.
• If some issues a spotted, such the liver flukes it's likely to get partially condemned .
• Meat infected with diseases gets totally rejected so, public health isn't at risk.
• Animals with Cysticercus bovis still could get sold after a freezing process since is the correct way to treat this meat.
• Cysticercus bovis is the infective larvae of tapeworm Taenia saginata, which infects cattle.
• Size: It's small usually like 5-10mm.
• Shape: oval and sphere-like.
• Color: translucent at first but gets less transparent by time.
• There is a scolex growing inside the flesh.

Infected Carcasses

• With only a few cysts meat still could get approved if they are treated with cooling it down, freeze them or heat them to be edible.
• Heavily infected carcasses gets totally rejected and can't get human consumption access.
• It's suggested to freeze to -10C° for 10 days to take care of that.
• Hydatid cysts comes form larvae tapeworms (Echinococcus granulosus) those usually infect livestock.
• It can also affect other animals and humans.
• It's also a significant concern in meat inspection because it poses a risk to public health so it would be rejected immediately.

Hydatid Cysts

• Cysts have sizes form few millimeters to centimeters.
• It shape are spherical or oval.
• The cyst's wall is typically white and the inner liquid is see-through.
• Tuberculosis in carcasses is caused by bacteria belonging to the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex, primarily Mycobacterium bovis, reason why it also causes the generalized suspect label in meat.
• Humans can get this infection through: raw meat consumption, contaminated products and contact with infection carriers. Lesions usually infect lymph nodes or lung, liver, and spleen.
• It is a significant zoonotic disease, meaning it can be transmitted from animals to humans, particularly through the consumption of contaminated meat or dairy products.
• Tuberculosis in carcasses is a major concern in meat inspection due to its impact on public health, animal health, and trade.