Vol 2 ~ iss 1, Meat Packing Journal, Jan~Feb 2015

The international magazine for the meat and poultry industry

P.40

Ritual slaughter a mixed blessing

P.48

substituing salt and saving flavor

P.18

crack down on campylobacter

MEAT PACKING J O U R N A L

CHINA As China gets hungry, international suppliers are spotting the opportunities in beef

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introducing danish crown's new beef ceo January~February 2015 volume 2 | issue 1 ISSN 2054-4685

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C o Mmen t

This will be China’s century

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Editor's choice

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he religious slaughter of animals for kosher and halal meats is under threat in Euorpe by animal rights' groups. But, as Shimon Cohen told me, animal rights have little to do with the real issue.

Answering to a higher authority page 40-47

et me introduce myself since you’re used to seeing Rhian Owen in this spot. She is on maternity leave so I’ll be covering for her until she returns.

My background is in fish, which I’ve been connected to for almost all my life. As a kid growing up in San Diego, my father ran People’s Fish Market and fish was the dinner table topic seven days a week. It was a shock to eventually find out that not all families discussed fish every night. I served in the US Coast Guard for 20-years where I saved fishermen, and then I worked for about a decade on commercial fishing and aquaculture publications.

While I’m sure an Oklahoma feedlot foreman might think differently, truth be told, there is not a lot of difference between the meat and seafood industry. I hope to bring this expertise to MPJ. This issue’s main feature is on China and the potential it holds for the meat industry - especially beef. However, what I found from living in Hong Kong/China for several years is that the Great China Myth – that dream of selling one item to all 1.34 billion Chinese – and the Great China Reality are most times very far apart.

But, the fact remains there is a HUGE potential in selling meat, equipment, and expertise to China. Today, the Chinese government is encouraging people to leave the land and move to the cities, resulting in one of the largest migrations ever in human history. While poverty

Everyone dreams of selling just one asprin, one chicken wing, or one burger to each peron in a country that has over a billion people. remains in China, its middleclass is growing rapidly. When people have more money, people eat more meat, and China is no exception.

To meet this demand, China needs to further modernize its agricultural industry and will have to streamline its import polices for pork, chicken, and beef.

For those tempted to cash in, let me pass on this bit of advice: China is not the west and what works in Topeka or Sydney, might not in Chengdu. It requires a completely different mind-set to be successful.

A story to illustrate this: in Hong Kong a US appliance dealer complained to me about his “worthless” local staff, how they couldn’t sell ice water in the Sahara. He was staking all on selling American-size, two-door refrigerators, the ones with enough room to store an entire Thanksgiving meal for 30. However, he had not sold a single unit and the main office back in Chicago was getting concerned.

Had he ever set foot into a local’s apartment, I asked. No, he replied, and saw no point in doing so.

I, on the other hand, lived with a Chinese family. I knew for a fact a fridge of that size would not fit into their kitchen, let alone through the front door. But, he didn’t want to be confused with facts; if he could sell in the States, he could sell anywhere. It was no surprise when his HK office closed.

The opportunities in China are most definitely there, but don’t be like our friend and let the potential blind you from good, basic business sense. Understand the market before you jump in.

Velo Mitrovich velo@meatpacking.info @Meat_Packing

www.meatpacking.info

January~February 2015 | Meat Packing Journal | 3

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C o n t en t s

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danish crown Danish Crown's new beef CEO gives MPJ an exclusive interview as he settles into the role, looking after the processor's new mega cattle plant

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campylobacter The bactirium makes millions ill each year but simple steps by consumers in their kitchens could prevent this. So why are chicken producers taking all the heat?

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40

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china China's growing middle class is demanding better, safer meat products and are willing to pay for them. We look at the big three - pork, chicken, and beef - and tell you which one we'd bank on

Kosher & halal There are huge opportunities in selling to the religious meat market. But in Europe, there are problems on the horizon

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salt If you make value-added products with coatings and mariandes, you're being asked to reduce it. We give you the facts.

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Packaging beef Large chains are using centralized meat packing plants to save money. But what good is saving money at that end if stores are losing it at the till

18 In the next issue

Also in this issue 7 - News 14 - Marketing news 56 - Product releases 61 - IPPE preview

Meat Packing Journal digs into the poultry industry; we review the latest developments in xray and grading machines; we look at the benefits Temple Grandin's research into lairage has brought to the industry; and we get to grips with the very best in sausages

www.meatpacking.info

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China lifts Brazilian beef Ban

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razilian beef exports to China could increase by more than $1 billion next year following the recent decision by China to lift the embargo on Brazilian beef, according to Antonio Camardelli, president of group Abiec, which represents beef exporters in Brazil, The Brazilian embargo, which was lifted in November, had been in place since December 2012, when an atypical case of mad cow disease was discovered. Before, Brazil was not an official major supplier to China, with just 17,000 metric tons of beef exported before the embargo was implemented.

However, this is expected to change.

“We believe that those markets will grow stronger, as a result of efforts that we did prior to the embargo to ship more value-added products,” Camardelli said in an interview with Reuters.

Brazil’s farm lobby, the National Confederation of Agriculture, praised China for ending the embargo, but said Beijing would need to approve more slaughterhouses before shipments could really take off.

Currently only eight Brazilian slaughterhouses have permission to export to China, the confederation said.

Camardelli said another nine facilities are prepared to export to China if approved.

These additional sales to China are unlikely to affect already bumper exports of Brazilian beef to Hong

Ham scam proves costly Australia: An Australian ham scam has netted an importer and his company a A$25,000 ($ 21,600) fine for breaching Australia’s strict importing requirements, reports the Australian Department of Agriculture.

Perth-based Topas Pty Ltd and its director, Paqualino Licastro, breached strict conditions of their import permit by importing ham from unapproved regions in Italy in 2011.

The company was fined A$22,000 ($19,000) and Licastro was fined A$3000 ($2,600) for offences in relation to the importation of 2241 kg (4,940 lb) of Parma leg ham in a sea freight consignment.

Department of Agriculture's First Assistant Secretary of Compliance, Raelene Vivian, said the prosecution sent a strong message to businesses and individuals who knowingly breach Australian biosecurity laws.

The department ordered that the ham be held pending sampling and www.meatpacking.info

Kong, said Camardelli. According to some, around $1.5 billion worth of Brazilian beef has been entering Hong Kong for the last several years; this Special Administration region has a population of slightly more than 7 million.

Although the lifting of the beef ban is good news for Brazil and for US beef producers - who are also expecting their ban to be lifted as well - it is causing some worry for Australian beef producers who were one of the few western countries allowed to import beef into China.

Meat and Livestock Australia economist Tim McRae says Australia will be watching to see whether Brazil continues to export to Hong Kong, or whether it takes over from Australia as a key supplier of beef to the mainland.

For the near future, however, Brazil’s lack of a significant number of processing plants approved to export to China will allow Australia to keep its prime position, he believes.

"In comparison, Australia has 33 plants approved to ship to China," said McRae. "So it will be longer term, but any time you have an increase competition into the market, that will have an impact on the product.

"But the Chinese market has grown considerably in these last two years, so it may be able to absorb this product."

testing for staphylococcus, listeria, E.coli and salmonella before it could be sold or distributed.

forty million pig milestone reached Denmark: Just 10 years after slaughtering the first pig in Horsens, the number has now reached 40 million, announced Danish Crown.

Laid end to end, 40 million slaughtered pigs would measure twice around the world.

Danish Crown’s cutting-edge slaughterhouse growth has been impressive since taking over from the old slaughterhouse in 2004. Since then, the slaughterhouse has been through a number of expansions and can now slaughter around 100,000 pigs per week.

Presently engineers are working on extending the cooling capacity in Horsens to ensure that the cooling areas can handle the many tons

of meat that pass through the slaughterhouse every day

Breaded chicken gaining on burgers USA: An increasing number of US consumers are choosing breaded chicken sandwiches over hamburgers, reports The NPD Group, a leading global information company.

Servings of breaded chicken sandwiches have grown an average of 3% over the last four years, and in the year ending July 2014, 2.4 billion breaded chicken sandwiches were ordered at US restaurants and commercial foodservice outlets.

“Among the factors driving the increase in breaded chicken sandwich orders from a consumer standpoint is the perception of chicken, breaded or not, being a better-for-you option and the availability of new types of breading, like whole grain,” says Annie Roberts, vice president, NPD.

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Europe rules against MSM

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he british meat Processors Association (BPMA) has slammed the recent European Court of Justice decision against mechanically separated meat (MSM) as extremely disappointing.

The case brought against Newby Foods Ltd UK case revolves around whether pig meat and poultry meat recovered from bones by low pressure mechanical means is MSM or a meat preparation. If the former, the product could not count towards the meat content of a final food product and would have to be labeled as containing MSM. As a result, it would have a lower commercial value, and this would also lead to reduced use of the product and, therefore, food waste.

The ECJ’s ruling is that the product cannot be classified as a meat preparation; it is MSM.

Fois gras to EU europe: The Ukraine’s largest poultry producer, MHP, is exploring new destinations for export of fois gras in the EU with a trial batch being sent to Slovakia.

"MHP has already sent a trial batch of 200 kg of fois gras to Slovakia," the company said in a statement.

"Negotiations for further deliveries are under way".

In addition, MHP has entered into negotiations with the Netherlands and France to begin trial deliveries at the end of 2014 and in the beginning of 2015.

With the opening of this sales market, the company is looking to expand its fois gras exports to the EU. However, the company still considers the markets Belarus, Estonia and Hungary as destinations with higher priority.

Strategic plan on people, pigs, and planet USA: Following more than a year of planning and development, the USA’s National Pork Board released its new strategic plan focused on anticipating and managing the changing world facing US pork producers now and in the future.

The plan, to be implemented

The case was brought by BMPA member, Newby Foods Ltd, in the UK courts and certain key questions were subsequently referred to the ECJ. Stephen Rossides, BMPA Director, said: “This is a very disappointing ruling, and fails to recognize the technological advances that have enabled the ability to produce by low pressure mechanical means a product that is very similar to minced meat.

“The BMPA has consistently asserted that what was formerly known in the UK as ‘de-sinewed meat’ is a quite different product from MSM, and is similar to minced meat. As such, this product should count towards the meat content of food products and should not have to be labeled. This would deliver a higher commercial value to this product and also reduce food waste.”

starting in January 2015, will be in place through 2020 to guide the organization.

Rooted in collaboration between industry and supply chain partners, the new National Pork Board vision is to elevate US pork as the global protein of choice by continuously and cooperatively working to do what’s right for people, pigs, and the planet.

“It’s a plan sharply focused on a vision for the future of America’s pork producers. It defines in clear, customer-centered language a set of objectives focused on results,” said Dale Norton, Pork Checkoff president and a pork producer from Bronson, Mich. “Our task force, which included pork producers and representatives from allied industries, defined a commitment to leverage industry and supply chain collaboration to achieve the vision.”

Two French plants close France: French poultry processor Gastronome, part of the large agricultural cooperation Terrena, has announced plans to close its plant in Luche-Pringe. The news comes just a few days after Tilly-Sabco, another chicken processing company, filed for bankruptcy.

Gastronome, the second poultry processor in France with 14 factories and a turnover of €869 million ($1.09

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billion) in 2013, says it has lost some €53 million ($66 million) over the last four fiscal years because of the serious and continuing problems in the French poultry sector.

According to Gastronome, the plant in Luche-Pringe, which processes and packages chicken and turkey cutlets and recently started to produce ready meals, is not competitive. The factory is also too isolated from the main poultry producing regions in the country, leading to extra transport costs of the raw material.

Water ruling could prove costly USA: US poultry organizations say a new ruling regarding surface water ultimately connecting to a navigable waterway – and then placed under strict environmental laws – will place a burden on how they do business.

The US Poultry & Egg Association, National Chicken Council and National Turkey Federation filed comments with several US government agencies in regards to an expansion of “Waters of the United States” under the Clean Water Act (CWA).

This act established the basic structure for regulating discharges of pollutants into the waters of the United States and regulating quality www.meatpacking.info

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standards for surface waters. It also set water quality standards for all contaminants in surface waters.

US poultry producers are concerned that going by the new ruling, almost all areas where water is present and connects to navigable water – even as infrequently as once every few years – would be subject then to CWA permit requirements and potential criminal liabilities.

“The proposed rule would assert jurisdictional authority over countless dry creeks, ditches, swales and low spots that are wet because it rains or a farmer has installed practices to sustain the viability of his operation,” said the groups.

“Even worse, the proposed rule attempts to claim authority over remote ‘wetlands’ and/or drainage features solely because they are near an ephemeral drainage feature or ditch that are now defined as a water of the US subject to CWA jurisdiction.

Such unnecessary expansion of CWA jurisdiction significantly burdens poultry and egg production operations without any meaningful public health or environmental benefits.”

Not all pork created equal canada: Smithfield Farmland is offering Prime, a premium all natural fresh pork line under the Smithfield and Farmland brands.

Prime products are sourced from the company's proprietary Duroc line of market hogs. The hogs are segregated from the general population during processing to meet stringent quality standards, the company said. The Prime line is produced under the USDA Process Verification Program, which ensures no beta-agonist growth promotants are used.

“Smithfield Farmland Prime is a product of the USA that is sourced from market hogs sired by a proprietary Duroc line that are raised without beta-agonist growth promotants and no hormones and steroids,” said Dr. Roger Johnson, director of Pork Quality at Smithfield.

“Not all pork is created equal and www.meatpacking.info

we’re confident that when consumers experience Prime they’ll be able to see the exceptional color and increased marbling, and taste the tenderness and flavor difference.”

Canadians protest slaughterhouse canada: Seven people were arrested after a protest outside a Toronto slaughter house turned “aggressive.”

Animal rights activists gathered at St. Helen’s Meat Packers, with police being called to the scene shortly afterwards, said Toronto police.

Seven people were arrested for mischief. Out of the seven, two were also arrested for mischief and assault.

Police said one person kicked an officer in her stomach and the other punched the same officer in her face.

Protester Jenny Henry said there was a group of animal rights activists who sat in a line across the entrance to block trucks from delivering cattle.

Henry said that when trucks began backing up towards the protesters sitting in the line, police pulled them out of the way of the trucks.

“If you abuse one animal, you get in trouble. Meanwhile, we are being arrested for trying to prevent violent slaughter of innocent, gentle animals.

Police are protecting the industry that routinely abuses and viciously slaughters the cows,” Henry said.

It is not known if Henry has actually ever been around cattle.

A manager at the St. Helen’s said the protest did not disrupt operations.

Beef Australia 2015 coming soon australia: The countdown is on to Australia’s national beef industry exposition, Beef Australia 2015.

Held once every three-years in Rockhampton, Queensland, the next Beef Australia will run from 4–9 May 2015 and is expected to attract more than 80,000 visitors.

Beef Australia 2015 Chairman Blair Angus said the expo would bring together industry leaders and innovators from around the world with a comprehensive program of

shows, sales, seminars and new trade opportunities.

“The event will act as a platform for the development of all levels of industry, by helping grow new export markets, educating producers on the latest production techniques and engaging with consumers about the great taste and nutritional benefits of beef,” he said.

USDA opens VIVO research tool to public USA: VIVO, a Web application used internally by US Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists since 2012 to allow better national networking across disciplines and locations, is now available to the public. USDA VIVO will be a "onestop shop" for Federal agriculture expertise and research outcomes.

"USDA employs over 5,000 researchers to ensure our programs are based on sound public policy and the best available science," said Dr Catherine Woteki, USDA chief scientist and Undersecretary for Research, Education, and Economics.

"VIVO provides a powerful Web search tool for connecting interdisciplinary researchers, research projects and outcomes with others who might bring a different approach or scope to a research project.

Inviting private citizens to use the system will increase the potential for collaboration to solve food- and agriculture-related problems."

The idea behind USDA VIVO is to link researchers with peers and potential collaborators to ignite synergy among the best scientific minds and to spark unique approaches to some of agriculture’s toughest problems.

This efficient networking tool enables scientists to easily locate others with a particular expertise.

VIVO also makes it possible to quickly identify scientific expertise and respond to emerging agricultural issues, like specific plant and animal disease or pests.

The USDA's Agricultural Research Service, Economic Research Service, and National Institute of Food and Agriculture are some participants.

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Osha fines wayne farms

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S-based chicken processors Wayne Farms, which makes products under brand names Dutch Quality House and Platinum Harvest, has been cited by the US Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration for exposing workers to dangerous machinery, fall, and musculoskeletal disorder hazards.

OSHA issued 11 citations to the poultry processing plant in Alabama, including nine serious, one repeat and one other-than serious violation. The investigation was initiated after the agency received a complaint from the Southern Poverty Law Center. Proposed penalties total $102,600.

"OSHA found that workers in this plant were exposed to safety and musculoskeletal hazards and suffered serious injuries as a result. The outcome of this investigation deepened our concern about musculoskeletal hazards in poultry plants, where employees are at increased risk of developing carpal tunnel syndrome and other disorders that affect the nerves, muscles and tendons," said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Dr. David Michaels.

"These types of injuries are preventable by implementing appropriate engineering and administrative controls in the workplace, and when they occur, they must be treated early with appropriate medical care to prevent the illness from progressing.

However, in this plant, OSHA found workers were often required to seek assistance from the company's onsite nurse many times before they were referred to a physician."

On 1 August, the US Departments of Agriculture and Labor mailed a joint letter to all poultry plants regarding their responsibility to prevent work-related musculoskeletal disorders.

"Our investigation revealed that employees suffered musculoskeletal injuries, and Wayne Farms failed

Group criticizes plan to resume Zilmax sales USA: Merck Animal Health has taken steps to re-introduce to market the FDA-approved weight-gain feed drug Zilmax (Zilpaterol) after the drug maker voluntarily suspended sales in 2013, amid animal welfare concerns of hoof loss and lameness that required cattle to be destroyed.

However, the move has not been without its distractors.

to record those injuries and properly manage the medical treatment of injured employees at the facility," said Joseph Roesler, OSHA's area director in Mobile, Alabama.

"By failing to report injuries, failing to refer employees to physicians and discouraging employees from seeking medical treatment, Wayne Farms effectively concealed the extent to which these poultry plant workers were suffering work-related injuries and illnesses. And as a result, it reported an artificially lower injury and illness rate."

One repeat violation, with a penalty of $38,500, was cited for the employer's failure to protect workers from moving parts of a machine during servicing and maintenance work. In this instance, the employer lacked lockout/tagout procedures for maintaining a plastic strapping machine, something it failed to do following a previous OSHA inspection in February 2012 at the company's Enterprise, Alabama, facility. A repeat violation exists when an employer previously has been cited for the same or similar violation of a standard, regulation, rule or order at any facility in federal enforcement states within the last five years.

Seven serious violations, carrying penalties of $49,000, involve exposing workers to serious safety hazards, including unguarded machines, slippery floors and fall hazards. In addition, OSHA issued two more serious general duty clause citations for musculoskeletal disorder hazards with penalties of $14,000. One general duty clause citation was issued for exposing employees on the debone line to hazards while performing prolonged, repetitive, forceful tasks, often while using awkward postures.

OSHA issued the second citation for exposing employees to the stressors of repetitive lifting and carrying in excess of 75 pounds. A serious violation occurs when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.

"No amount of drug makersponsored study or five-step PR spin campaign will convince us that beta agonists belong in beef production.

We hope processors continue to resist accepting Zilmax-fed cattle for animal welfare, and to preserve USA beef quality, consistency and integrity," said Beef Additive Alert cofounder Gerald Timmerman in a press statement.

According to Beef Additive Alert, Merck’s steps include press releases, mass online ads directing to a

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"Responsible Beef" website, a lower dose re-labeling alternative and feeder certification.

However, the Wall Street Journal reported Merck's plan to launch a 250,000 cattle in-field study failed to materialize due to beef processors uneasiness.

Since Merck pulled Zilmax, Reuters reports cattle feeders have switched to beta agonist rival product Ractopamine, marketed as Optaflexx produced by Elanco Animal Health. www.meatpacking.info

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No manufacturers were named, but 11 Ractopamine-based drugs used in cattle, pigs and turkeys are the subject of a federal lawsuit recently filed by the Center for Food Safety, claiming the US Food and Drug Administration approved the beta agonist class of drugs without fully examining if "Ractopamine is safe for the environment, animals or people".

US exports of Ractopamine-fed animals are banned by 160 countries, including China and the European Union for human health concerns, according to the consumer group.

Beef Additive Alert said it is made up of veteran American cattle ranchers and beef enthusiasts who oppose the widespread use of pharmaceuticals in US food production.

Poultry prices to rise in South Africa South Africa: The recent outbreak of Avian Influenza in Europe, coupled with South African anti-dumping duties and the recent rise in the import tariffs of broiler meat, will escalate local poultry meat consumer prices in South Africa, according to the USDA’s GAIN report.

Broiler meat is the most important protein source in the diet of the majority of South Africans, including the poor, and consumption has increased by about 70% since 2000.

During the last 12 months, South Africa imported almost 360 thousand tons of broiler meat, at a value of $334 million, with imports from Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, representing 40% of imports. An anti-dumping duty keeps US broiler meat out of the South African market.

The South African per capita consumption of poultry meat (of which most is broiler meat) is estimated at 36 kilograms per annum.

In comparison, each South African consumes only three kilograms of mutton, five kilograms of pork and 17 kilograms of beef per annum.

Imports of broiler meat represent more than 20% of local consumption.

It is estimated that South Africa chicken processors slaughtered about one billion broilers (equal to 1.5 www.meatpacking.info

million tons of meat) in 2014.

Turkeys may be lifesavers USA: While the turkey you eat over the winter holiday season will bring your stomach happiness and could probably kick-start an afternoon nap, it may also save your life one day, according to researchers at Utah’s Brigham Young University.

That’s because the biological machinery needed to produce a potentially life-saving antibiotic is found in turkeys, according to the US team.

“Our research group is certainly thankful for turkeys,” said BYU microbiologist Joel Griffitts, whose team is exploring how the turkeyborn antibiotic comes to be. “The good bacteria we’re studying has been keeping turkey farms healthy for years and it has the potential to keep humans healthy as well.”

That’s because the bacteria, Strain 115 as scientists know it, produces the MP1 antibiotic - a known killer that could target staph infections, strep throat, severe gastrointestinal diseases and roughly half of all infectious bacteria. This antibiotic, however, is not in widespread use because of its complex structure.

Griffitts, colleague Rich Robison and graduate student Philip Bennallack have been using serious science (mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy) to identify exactly how Strain 115 makes this antibiotic - and how it manages to do so without killing itself. What they’re finding is that the mechanism for producing it is surprisingly simple.

They found that inside Strain 115 is a compact DNA molecule also known as a plasmid, which produces both the killer antibiotic and a selfprotecting agent. It makes a “spare” ribosome part which, when inserted into a normal ribosome, renders it immune to the antibiotic.

“It’s sort of like outfitting a car with special tires that protect against unusual road hazards,” said Griffitts.

This story in a way actually started with a turkey farm more than three decades ago, when now-retired BYU

professor Marcus Jensen discovered Strain 115.

Through his research on the strain, Jensen went on to develop three vaccines vital to the prevention of diseases in turkeys. And while his work with turkeys became widely known and led to awards, his research moved in new directions and the strain was set aside in 1983.

Some 30 years later, a student found the strain in a freezer. After some initial research efforts by undergraduates, Bennallack took the project into high gear. And now, with mentoring from Robison and Griffitts, the group has published their new findings in the Journal of Bacteriology.

“Sometimes bacteria retire with the people who discover them,” Griffitts said. “We simply rediscovered it and now we are capitalizing on it once again.”

Steaks for charity USA: US-based Omaha Steaks has said its Steaks for Good fundraising program, which allows charitable organizations to raise funds through the sale of Omaha Steaks products, is meeting with good success.

The company gives 10% of the purchase price from every order to the shopper's chosen fundraising campaign. There is no cost for organizations to participate.

"As a fifth-generation, familyowned company, we understand the importance of giving back to the community," said Bruce Simon, president of Omaha Steaks.

"The Steaks for Good fundraising program is a delicious way to support your favorite charity and a cause that's close to your heart with 10% of your purchase."

Headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, its facilities include three manufacturing plants, a distribution center, and a freezer warehouse.

Omaha Steaks markets nationwide and overseas include foodservice, mail order, incentive, telesales, retail stores, licensed restaurants sales to specialty and food stores. In 1990 it went online, one of the first companies to do so.

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Retail giant tackles Campylobacter

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k and international shopping giant Marks & Spencer has announced details of its five point action plan to tackle the industry-wide challenge of reducing levels of Campylobacter in whole chickens.

The M&S five point action plan has been implemented with 2 Sisters Food Group (M&S' largest supplier of whole chickens) since the end of September and will be rolled out to the remainder of the M&S supply chain by the end of 2014. The measures include even clearer front-of-pack labeling and double bagging whole chickens so they can be placed straight into the oven without the need to unwrap and handle the chicken.

Action is also underway on M&S farms with bonuses paid to farmers who produce Campylobacter-free chickens and innovative new safety technology in place on the production line.

JBT buys Wolf-tec usa: JBT Corporation, known in food processing and air transportation industries, has bought Wolf-tec, Inc. The US-based company is an equipment manufacturer providing processing equipment for poultry, beef, pork, and seafood. Its protein processing technologies focus on ingredient preparation, blending, injection, marination, massaging, and portioning, along with providing turnkey solutions encompassing high levels of automation to the protein processing industry.

The addition of Wolf-tec enables JBT to better meet customer needs through an expanded portfolio of protein processing equipment and solutions. It also provides JBT further entry into beef, pork, and seafood processing, where Wolf-tec has a stronger presence.

"In addition to the highly complementary fit of our product lines, Wolf-tec brings a strong brand presence, excellent technology, and an exceptional reputation for sales and customer support," stated Steve Smith, Executive Vice President and President of JBT FoodTech. "Moreover, the Company has outstanding management and team members who we are excited to

Steve Rowe, executive director of food at Marks & Spencer, said: "We take safety extremely seriously and have introduced innovative measures that ensure the highest standards and make it easy for our customers. The plan is working and we are committed to playing a leading role in the efforts to reduce levels of Campylobacter in the poultry industry."

Steve Wearne, Director of Policy at the Food Standards Agency, said: “I am very pleased to see this impressive initiative by M&S and 2 Sisters.

Campylobacter is a serious issue and there is no single solution to the problem.

“I believe the best way to drive down Campylobacter levels is by adopting the sort of integrated approach along the food chain demonstrated by M&S and 2 Sisters. I look forward to seeing the impact of these interventions in the future results of our ongoing survey into levels of Campylobacter in chicken on sale.”

welcome to our JBT family."

"Our equipment is frequently utilized in line with JBT's portioning, cooking and freezing solutions by our customers on the same production line," said Ralf Ludwig, Chief Executive Officer of Wolf-tec. "Now we will go to market with a more complete solution and in addition, JBT's global reach presents significant future growth opportunities. I am thrilled to join the JBT team and enthusiastically look forward to furthering Wolf-tec's legacy of innovation and strong technology solutions."

india says bird flu is under control India: India’s Chief Minister Oommen Chandy confirmed that bird flu has been brought under control and so far it has not transmitted to humans, reports the Deccan Chronicle.

Blood samples from 350,000 people were tested and the results turned out to be negative. Culling was completed in Kottayam district, but it was still going on in Alappuzha.

“Around 250,000 ducks were affected and so far 182,469 of them were culled. Culling will be completed soon,” said officials.

In case the disease does spread

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to humans, all general hospitals, including medical colleges in Alappuzha, Pathanamthitta and Kottayam districts, have been given an adequate supply of medicines and personal protection kits.

Bird flu had been confirmed in Chennithala, but fortunately it had not spread to other districts apart from the three already infected, said Health Minister Sivakumar.

More bird flu in Holland The netherlands: Dutch authorities reported a new outbreak of bird flu at a poultry farm, but could not say if it was the worrying new strain detected elsewhere in the country, reports Reuters.

"Avian influenza has been detected on a poultry farm at Zoeterwoude, where some 28,000 birds are affected," the economy ministry said in a statement.

"The birds are infected with the H5 variant of the flu but it's not yet known whether of the highly pathogenic variety or not," it added.

This strain of bird flu was discovered in the Netherlands this last November, where authorities suspect it might have been brought in by birds migrating from Asia.

Some strains of avian influenza www.meatpacking.info

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can pose a health threat to humans, who can fall sick after handling infected poultry.

Dutch authorities have said human infection can only occur following "intense and direct contact" with infected birds. The H5N1 strain of bird flu has killed more than 400 people, mainly in Southeast Asia, since first appearing in 2003. Another strain of bird flu, H7N9, has claimed more than 170 lives since emerging in 2013.

The latest outbreak lies about 21 miles northwest of Hekendorp, where the first outbreak was detected in mid-November, leading to around 150,000 birds being destroyed.

Bird flu has been detected in at least three other locations in the Netherlands. Germany and Britain have also reported similar strains of the virus.

The H7N7 strain of avian flu severely hit the Netherlands in 2003 with health authorities destroying some 30 million birds in an effort to quash an outbreak.

There are some 95 million chickens on Dutch poultry farms and egg exports totaled some â‚Ź10.6 billion ($13.2 billion) in 2011, according to the latest Dutch statistics.

US pork production to surpass beef usa: Pork production in the United States will surpass U.S. beef production in 2015, says Bob Young, chief economist for the American Farm Bureau Federation, reports the Augusta Free Press.

If that prediction is realized, it will be the first time US farmers will produce more pork than beef since the 1950s.

US cattle producers have been trimming down their numbers since the droughts of 2011 and 2012 hit rangelands for grazing and also pushed up feed costs. As cattle prices increased, producers had a good reason to sell rather than keep them as breeding animals, according to Virginia Farm Bureau Federation Commodity Marketing Director Spencer Neale.

reducing malaria transmission and that they expect their nets to complement existing ones by increasing availability and affordability.

Lyatuu said that it was their expectation that mosquito nets produced from feathers will be more durable as well as the number of net users will increase because of comfortability offered by such nets.

"Although feathers seem (and they are actually) light and small, they are exceptionally strong,� he said, adding that they can withstand both thermal and mechanical stress.

Kiware said that the nets to be produced from feathers can also be recycled and that once this project is in full scale, and they hope that the community will be able to benefit out of this.

Billions of kilograms of waste feathers are generated each year by commercial poultry processing plants creating a serious solid waste problem in many countries.

Traditional disposal strategies of chicken feathers are expensive and difficult.

They are often burned in incineration plants, buried in landfills or recycled into low quality animal feed. These disposal methods are restricted, generate greenhouse gases or pose danger to the environment. Several commercial applications have been explored to utilize fibers from chicken feathers.

THE BEST SKINNER JUST GOT BETTER

Chicken feathers to fight malaria Tanzania: Researchers at the Ifakara Health Institute (IHI) in Tanzania are on course to develop a prototype that sees the use of chicken feathers in the manufacturing of insecticide treated mosquito nets, reports the Tanzania Daily News.

Dr Samson Kiware said that while they are still in the early stages, they have so far reached out to local and international collaborators to develop such a prototype, and will probably have one in four or so months.

"It won't be until we have performed extensive tests using the prototype and the results are conclusive before we can think of manufacturing at large scale, this is probably a year from now.

The study/test includes cost analysis, effectiveness, comfortability, adherence to insecticide, durability as compared to the existing nets," Kiware said.

Another research scientist of the project, Isaac Lyatuu, said that the existing nets have shown dramatic impact in www.meatpacking.info

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Consumers hot for spicy food

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he hot food craze shows no signs of abetting, according to Canadean’s analyst Sam Allen.

Processors who choose to either ignore this trend or believe the public’s love for heat has reached its peak, are doing so at their own peril.

“The foodservice sector has witnessed a rapid rise in the popularity of international restaurants such as Nando’s, which offer a range of increasingly hot options. This has led to similarly positioned eateries spicing up their menus to meet the growing demand for fiery flavors, with the trend trickling through to retail,” said Allen.

Nando’s, which started in South Africa in 1987, is now a global success with its grilled chicken doused in a series of ever hotter peri-peri chili sauces.

“The growing popularity of the spice trend is showing no signs of decline, as consumers are continually seeking that next, new fiery flavor.

Foster gets kick from football USA: US chicken giant Foster Farms has made a multi-year deal to be the new title sponsor of a late-December college football bowl game.

ESPN will carry the national broadcast, which will feature two teams from the Pac-12 and the Big 10 conferences. The game will be played for the first time at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California.

“Nothing brings people together like chicken and football,” said Bryan Reese, senior vice president of marketing, sales and R&D for Foster Farms.

“To commemorate the inaugural Foster Farms Bowl, we will debut a new company logo that will be displayed on the field, on uniforms and on game merchandise. We look forward to sharing this experience with fans at home and in the stadium alike and we’re eager to see Foster Farms’ new logo on the gridiron on game day.”

“Even though the game will no longer be called the ‘Fight Hunger Bowl’, we will continue our initiatives to fight hunger in the Bay Area,” said Gary Cavalli, the game’s co-founder and executive director. “Every ticket sold to the game is a ‘meal ticket’

Foodservice outlets have responded by providing menus packed with piquant dishes to test the taste buds of the bravest diners, and FMCG manufacturers are following suit,” he said.

The UK supermarket leader Tesco has created a range of premium ‘Three Chili Steak Burgers’ infused with jalapeno, habanero and birds-eye chilies, marketed towards consumers looking beyond the basic beef offerings.

“Demand for niche sauces, such as Chillipepper Pete’s ‘Dragon's Blood’ [an ultra-hot sauce] is rapidly increasing, and the number of UK Co-operative stores carrying the product is set to increase from 450 to 1000 over the coming months," said Allen.

“UK Sainsbury’s and Waitrose are also set to begin stocking the item, along with some specialist spiceinfused sausages, highlighting the need for larger manufacturers to respond to consumer demand.”

for a hungry family in the Bay Area, generating donations to our partner organizations.”

New Jimmy Dean campaign to ‘delight consumers’ USA: The makers of Jimmy Dean have announced that it will delivere a new integrated marketing campaign to introduce the brand’s new line of lunch and dinner offerings.

This marketing initiative will keep the iconic Sun character as the central theme of the promotion, which aims at “delighting consumers through unexpected moments that brighten their days”.

The campaign, developed by TBWA Chiat Day Los Angeles, includes the launch of the world’s first solarpowered GIFs as the highlight of the “Sun Cinema” event, a shadow selfie consumer sweepstakes, and two new television spots. The multi-faceted 360 degree campaign will also be supported through additional on-theground events, print, digital, social, out-of-home advertising, shopper marketing, and public relations.

"In launching our new Jimmy Dean lunch and dinner sandwiches and bowls, we set out to create a one-of-a-kind consumer marketing

14 | Meat Packing Journal | January~February 2015

campaign that brings to life how Jimmy Dean products help brighten mealtime experiences beyond breakfast with tasty meal solutions for lunch, dinner and snack time,” said Eric Schwartz, group vice president and general manager, Jimmy Dean brand. “Through this new marketing campaign, we’re evolving the brand’s association with the sun to engage with consumers in new, unexpected ways. After all, the sun shines well beyond breakfast time."

The Jimmy Dean brand marketing campaign includes the launch of two new television spots starring the “hottest” talent to grace television screens – the Jimmy Dean brand Sun character. Airing nationally, the first television spot features the new line of great-tasting Jimmy Dean sandwich and bowl offerings.

The second spot highlights the new Delights offerings that contain 300 calories or less.

“Deli” (:30) “Deli” opens with a man taking his tuna fish sandwich from the deli counter when the Jimmy Dean brand Sun character appears and suggests he tries something different for lunch like a Jimmy Dean Bacon Mac and Cheese bowl, Pulled Pork Sandwich or Grilled Steak bowl. After agreeing to ditch the tuna sandwich, the man takes a bite out of the Jimmy www.meatpacking.info

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Dean Pulled Pork Sandwich and not long after, individuals in the deli line follow suit and abandon their original orders to see what he’s enjoying for lunch.

“Food Court” (:30) “Food Court” opens with two women sitting down to eat the salads they purchased at the food court, both looking dissatisfied with their lunches. The Jimmy Dean brand sun character approaches and offers to replace their boring salad with a new Jimmy Dean Delights option like the Smoked Ham on a pretzel bun, Golden Roasted Turkey bowl or Pulled Chicken Sandwich, all of which contain 300 calories or less. The women agree and are left speechless after taking their first bite, stating nothing other than “Mmm, Mmm, Mmm.”

Celeb chef pushes pork USA: US-based Smithfield Farmland and celebrity chef Amanda Freitag have teamed together in a new campaign to tell consumers what's fresh in pork.

Smithfield Farmland formed a partnership with Freitag to introduce new recipes featuring Smithfield and Farmland branded all natural fresh pork. Freitag will demonstrate how to use Smithfield and Farmland branded pork through an online series at Walmart.com.

Additional recipes will be available at www.Smithfield.com and www.FarmlandFoods.com. Other components of the campaign will include print, in-store publicity, public relations, and digital media strategies.

“The goal of the ‘What's Fresh for Fall’ campaign is to showcase how easy it is to incorporate Smithfield and Farmland branded pork into delicious, easy-to-make seasonal recipes, while providing valuable cooking tips from celebrity chef Amanda Freitag," said Dedra Berg, director of Fresh Pork, Smithfield Farmland.

"Chef Freitag possesses a passion for food that inspires home cooks to embrace fresh ingredients and flavors, and has created some inspiring and autumnal dishes that really showcase www.meatpacking.info

how easy and delicious it is to include fresh pork into a delicious week night meal."

Big push to promote Welsh lamb and beef wales: A multi-million euro project to further improve awareness across Europe of the unique qualities of Welsh Lamb and Welsh Beef has been announced.

Hybu Cig Cymru – Meat Promotion Wales will spend €4,100,000 ($5,110,000) over the next three years to promote the qualities that led to Welsh Lamb and Welsh Beef being awarded Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) status by the European Commission.

It’s the second time in six years that HCC has been awarded millions of Euros for a promotional campaign across Europe and will bring the total spent between 2011 and 2018 to €8.1 million The new scheme, which runs in Germany, Italy, Sweden and Denmark, was announced by Deputy Minister for Farming and Food, Rebecca Evans, during HCC’s annual conference in Llanelli.

The €4.1 million program approved by the European Commission involves the promotion of the qualities of PGI, using Welsh Lamb and Welsh Beef as examples, in Germany and Italy. The promotional program in Sweden and Denmark focuses on PGI Welsh Lamb only.

This is the second time that HCC has been successful in gaining European funding for PGI promotional campaigns. In 2011, HCC was awarded €4 million to promote PGI Welsh Lamb in the UK, France, Germany and Italy over a three year period.

“This is excellent news for the Welsh red meat industry,” said HCC Chief Executive Gwyn Howells. “This €4.1 million funding will provide a significant boost for our efforts to raise awareness of the high standards that Welsh Lamb and Welsh Beef have to achieve in order to qualify for PGI status.

“It is particularly gratifying to know that our stewardship of the

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previous scheme has been judged to be a success by the European Commission – so much so that they have awarded us another €4 million to continue our work.”

The European Commission will contribute half the cost of the campaign, with HCC contributing the other half.

“Raising awareness of the qualities that have earned Welsh Lamb and Welsh Beef PGI status will have a beneficial effect on farmers and processors here in Wales,” said Howells. “I hope that it will lead to increased overseas orders as awareness of the PGI stamp grows, boosting sales and helping the Welsh economy.”

HCC’s Market Development Manager Laura Pickup said: “We have chosen these countries for this intensive marketing drive because a distribution network for Welsh Lamb or Welsh Beef already exists.

“This program provides us with the opportunity to further develop that trade by emphasizing the benefits of PGI to both retailers and consumers in those countries.”

HCC’s campaigns in all four countries will include a combination of print and digital advertising, posters and recipe booklets for retailers and attendance at trade and consumer food shows. Trade missions for customers in each of the four target countries will also be organized.

Only sheep and cattle that are born and raised in Wales and slaughtered in HCC-approved abattoirs can legally be described as PGI Welsh lamb or PGI Welsh Beef.

New deli meats launched USA: Oscar Mayer, a subsidiary of US-based Kraft Foods Group Inc, has launched a new line of deli meats that feature Old-World style. The line includes Classic Salami, Cracked Black Pepper Salami, Classic Pepperoni and Turkey Pepperoni.

"There's no doubt that Italian-style sandwiches are gaining popularity, on restaurant menus and at home," said Tom Bick, senior director of integrated marketing and advertising at Oscar Mayer.

January~February 2015 | Meat Packing Journal | 15

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Q& Danish Crown's A Finn Klostermann is the new face of Danish Crown Beef, having accepted the position of CEO last year.

He talks MPJ's Rhain Owen about becoming 'Mr Beef', running the company's new cattle slaughterhouse and the stability of the beef market in Europe and further afield

16 | Meat Packing Journal | January~February 2015

www.meatpacking.info

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Finn Klostermann You’ve recently taken on the position of CEO of Danish Crown Beef. How are you settling into your new role?

I enjoy it a lot. I’ve been in the company for so many years [having previously been the company’s sales director]. I know exactly what I was getting into, there’s been no surprises. It’s always a major change when there’s a new person in front of a big company. The special thing about Danish Crown beef division is that it is a co-op; it is owned by the farmers so you have to be accepted and known by them. I’ve had a fantastic chance and a journey towards that, and of course over the years I have met the farmers several times. I’ve had a very smooth start.

The previous CEO Lorenz Hansen was known as ‘Mr Beef’. Do you have ambitions to make a name for yourself?

A person who has been in the business for more than 40 years will definitely end up with a title like that. It’s not something I strive for right now, you need to earn that respect. I have no ambition to be ‘Mr Beef’ tomorrow or next year as working in a business like this, where you are working closely with farmers, for farmers and for our customers, you have to show your capabilities.

Can you tell MPJ about your new Holsted facility, which received the first animals for slaughter in spring 2014?

Holsted is the most modern cattle abattoir in Europe right now. Everything is being focussed on making this new facility work in the best possible way. We’ve now been open for eight months and we are spending a lot of time fine-tuning and unveiling the true potential of the facility. This is going to take a few years – and that’s with respect to the process, equipment and people involved and looking at their skills and experience. However, it’s also with respect to attracting a new type of customer.

What are your new customers like? How are you attracting them?

Our customers have become more demanding, they expect more from the food manufacturing industry.

Closing down four old facilities in 2014 gave us the opportunity to invite a new type of customer – really demanding customers. For example, in terms of product quality we have introduced x-ray to monitor fat percentage and foreign bodies. This is high on the agenda for food manufacturers throughout the continent and therefore it needs to be fine-tuned and we must look at the potential for our customers. We need to give our www.meatpacking.info

customers something extra to offer. Our Holsted facility is also 100 percent transparent and we have a visitor’s walkway with 28 windows from the lairage, passing the stunning and the whole slaughtering process, to the deboning facilities and at the end the retail packing facilities. The public, clients, politicians and anyone who wants to see how we do things, can see everything. This is on trend and is becoming what is expected in the industry.

Beef production in Europe is slowly declining, has business been affected?

In the short term, no. The modest decline in cattle production in Europe has not affected us at all. I think it is very regional and I see the decline in some of the big European companies. For example in Italy and in Germany where we have a facility we see the decline more clearly. However, in Denmark we haven’t seen much of a decline so far. I also think building new facilities and believing in the future gives us a competitive edge, because if there is a slide in number of cattle we will hopefully still be offering something desirable to the market.

Are you looking to expand into other markets?

The possibility to grow in Europe is flat. We do not expect the European market to grow and so we are looking outside Europe, especially to Asia, North Africa and the Middle East. We are now trying to accommodate and develop the product that could be more attractive to these markets. This is where real growth is to be had.

However, we are a 50 percent domestic driven company so the other thing is we are looking at ideas to develop value-added beef products for the European market.

Until recently beef prices have continued to climb, are they going to increase again or have we reached a plateau?

In Europe we have seen a decrease in beef prices in 2014.

European countries have a lot of business going on with Russia, so it really hurt the prices when Russia banned pork imports from EU countries. When the pork prices dropped it impacted on the beef prices, this is certainly what we experienced in the second half of 2014. Prior to this, we had been on a constant rise in prices. I think we have now found the level for the future. I don’t think cattle prices will go up a lot in the short term. There are also new possibilities to exploit – such as looking at value-added beef products and innovations in edible by-products.

January~February 2015 | Meat Packing Journal | 17

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Contain

campylobacteR

Anna Bates

Fueled by a press which acts like it's just discovered the bacterium, government agencies and cosumer groups are demanding chicken farmers, processors, and supermaker chains stop its spread.

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lampybacter jejuni should not be so successful.

It is a fragile bacterium having nowhere near the robust nature of its fellow food poisoning bacteria, such as Salmonella, E coli, and Clostridium botulinum – the bringer of botulism.

It can’t tolerate drying and can be killed by the small amount of oxygen – 21% – found in our atmosphere. Freezing will bring about its death and Campylobacter’s numbers can be dramatically reduced by a splash of chlorine.

To prevent Campylobacter from infecting humans is a doddle. All we have to do is to cook our chicken properly, practice kitchen hygiene, lay-off the deli counter chicken pate, and the chances are we would never know it existed.

But, according to the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Campylobacter is the most common bacterial infection found in humans around the world.

So much for having a fragile nature.

Dr Arnoud van Vliet of the UK’s Institute of Food Research (IFR) – and one of the world’s leading authorities on Campylobacter – is still

Above: Microscopic fluorescent green Campylobacter cells on chicken skin

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www.meatpacking.info

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puzzled by the bacteria he has spent much of his professional life studying.

“We don’t understand why Campylobacter is so successful,” he says. “It lacks the tools of all other known successful bacteria.”

If you were to anthropomorphize Campylobacter, one of the tools it lacks the most is a successful public relations firm. Salmonella and E coli don’t affect many, they don’t affect often, but when they do, they make the front page of newspapers and TV headlines due to their deadly nature.

Because Campylobacter is so common in processed poultry and can affect people year around – although summer is the most common time – it’s rare to see it ever mentioned.

Public health campaigns centered on Campylobacter, from New Zealand to the USA to the United Kingdom, seem to generate little public interest and generally fail.

Van Vliet sees this as a major oversight.

“In the UK alone, there are around 60,000 confirmed cases a year, with around 80 deaths.

But, this is just the tip of the iceberg because most people do not go to the doctors if they have diarrhea,” he says. “The real number is at least seven to eight times more.”

www.meatpacking.info

Science for a healthy society T

he UK’s Institute of Food Research (IFR) aims to be an international leader in research that addresses the fundamental relationships between food and health, food and the gut, and the sustainability of the food chain in order to further the production of safe, healthy foods.

“At the IFR, we see ourselves as the start of a chain of knowledge, to help further down the chain,” says Dr Arnoud van Vliet. “We contribute to guidelines and are involved with contributing to policy decisions regarding food safety.”

The Institute’s scientists work closely with companies and governments to address many of the technical issues facing the industry today.

At the state-of-art facility located outside of Norwich, England, there are training opportunities for both current and future food and health scientists. This encompasses: Academic PhD studentships Industry-funded PhD studentships EU scientific fellowships Industry workshops

January~February 2015 | Meat Packing Journal | 19

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ll effort to stop Campylobacter from getting into chickens is failing.

People thought that this would be a simple problem...

But it’s not

Indeed, based on CDC’s figures of 0.5% of the world’s population suffering from Campylobacter infection every year, the total worldwide number of sufferers in 2013 would be around 35 million.

With most people suffering from explosive diarrhea not inclined to go to work, the economic loss around the world is staggering, estimated to be somewhere between $2 billion to $8 billion annually; with the large discrepancy due to unclear numbers of sufferers.

Campylobacter can also have a more sinister nature.

An estimated 1 in 1,000 patients with

Campylobacter infection develop a rare disease called Guillain-Barre syndrome, or GBS. This typically sets in several weeks after acute Campylobacteriosis.

During GBS, a person’s immune system attacks the body’s nerves, resulting in paralysis that can last for several weeks or years.

According to the CDC, as many as 40% of Guillain-Barre syndrome cases in the US may be triggered by Campylobacter infection.

Where to attack

O

ne issue which has stumped health officials is: where should the attack begin on Campylobacter.

Poultry, in particular chickens and turkeys, are the leading sources of Campylobacter infection in humans, so considerable expense and effort has gone into seeing if there is a way to stop the bacteria at the bird level.

But, it’s impossible to tell by observation if a single chicken or even an entire flock is infected. Contaminated birds can come just as easily from an organic or free range farm as from an industrial-style farm.

Farms with biosecurity measures in place from egg, to feed, to the chickens themselves, can have birds with Campylobacter. A 2013 University of Georgia study which linked the levels of Campylobacter at the processing to the levels at the farm, point out that there are no known methods which have been effective at reducing Campylobacter among flocks. Feed trials, along with pre and probiotics, have not dropped Campylobacter numbers.

“All effort to stop Campylobacter from getting into chickens is failing,” says van Vliet. “People thought that this would be a simple problem.

Vaccinations work well in poultry against salmonella, Campylobacter should be the same, they thought. But it’s not; Campylobacter is completely different.”

This then brings the attack to the processor Most poultry processing plants have Left: Dr Arnoud van Vliet of the Institute of Food Research

20 | Meat Packing Journal | January~February 2015

www.meatpacking.info

Institute of Food Research

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Institute of Food Research

It’s in the juice U

nder Dr Arnoud van Vliet’s leadership, the IFR has recently released a research paper by PhD student Helen Brown which could explain one of the reasons why Campylobacter seems to spread like a wildfire in chicken processing plants, chicken packaging, and on kitchen and restaurant counters.

Indeed, in one case study in Oklahoma, it was found that restaurant customers got sick from Campylobacter from eating lettuce and lasagna.

The bacteria journeyed from raw chicken, to cutting board, to counter and then to the salad lettuce and lasagna.

As past research has demonstrated, Campylobacter jejuni is primarily transmitted via the consumption of contaminated foodstuffs, especially poultry meat, says Brown.

In food processing environments, Campylobacter is required to survive a multitude of stresses and requires the use of specific survival mechanisms, such as biofilms, which protect it from oxygen.

Brown says: “An initial step in biofilm formation is bacterial attachment to a surface.

Here, we investigated the effects of a chicken meat exudate (chicken juice) on C jejuni surface attachment and biofilm formation.

“Supplementation of brucella broth with ≥5% chicken juice resulted in increased biofilm formation on glass, polystyrene, and stainless steel surfaces with four C. jejuni isolates and one C. coli isolate in both microaerobic and aerobic conditions.

“When incubated with chicken juice, C. jejuni was both able to grow and form biofilms in static cultures in aerobic conditions. Electron microscopy showed that C. jejuni cells were associated with chicken juice particulates attached to the abiotic surface rather than the surface itself.”

This suggests that chicken juice contributes to C. jejuni biofilm formation by covering and conditioning the abiotic surface and is a source of nutrients.

According to Brown, chicken juice was able to complement the reduction in biofilm formation of an aflagellated mutant of C. jejuni, indicating that chicken juice may support food chain transmission of isolates with lowered motility. www.meatpacking.info

Above: Campylocacter bacteria on chicken juice

January~February 2015 | Meat Packing Journal | 21

Stephen Ausmus

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the bacteria, from the smallest kosher butcher to the largest industrial plant. In the assembly line, whole broilers, cut pieces, skinless pieces, and chicken mince all have Campylobacter bacteria. Even poultry plant workers themselves can be carriers of Campylobacter.

In a US study, at a Virginia large-scale plant it was found that new workers had the greatest chance of becoming ill from the bacteria. It is believed that long term workers become immune to it after the initial exposure.

Research conducted in the UK and USA over the last five years found the percentage of processed chicken at supermarkets containing Campylobacter has ranged from 20% to 89%, with around most reports stating around 60%.

And, despite Campylobacter not surviving in our atmosphere, it still finds a way of living on the outside of chicken packaging.

“Would going after Campylobacter at the processing stage make more sense?” asks van Vliet. This is one of the things were trying to figure out at the Institute.”

He sees, however, problems with this, with the primary one being if processors would be willing to have a costly major shutdown every day to thoroughly clean their plants.

According to van Vliet, everyone involved with 22 | Meat Packing Journal | January~February 2015

Above: US animal caretaker Wally McDonner provides feed supplemented with a yeast extract to Japanese quail to test the feed’s efficacy against Salmonella and Campylobacter

poultry realizes that there is a problem.

“Growers, processors, stores, all noses are pointed in the same direction, they know that not doing anything is not an option,” he says.

“But the question is: who will pay for it?

“With the system in place, we grow chicken as fast as possible; we slaughter chicken as fast as possible; we eat chicken as fast as possible, by the bucket load. The cost margins are very small; would consumers be willing to pay more for Campylobacter-free chicken?

“Consumer education could and should be the biggest factor in eliminating Campylobacter infection from taking place, but most people ignore it, believing it is the responsibility of the store to ensure their food is safe to eat.

“I was recently in New Zealand for a Campylobacter meeting – until recently New Zealand was the developed world’s leader in Campylobacter outbreaks. While speaking for several hours about Campylobacter and ways consumers could do more to avoid it, this man in the front row, sitting there with his arms folded, spoke up, saying he wasn’t going to do anything. That was the job of the stores, the processors, the farmers, everyone but him.

“As long as that attitude’s in place…,” says van Vliet, shrugging his shoulders. www.meatpacking.info

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China Raising the steaks 24 | Meat Packing Journal | January~February 2015

www.meatpacking.info

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If the 19th century belonged to Britain, the 20th to the USA, the 21st will surely belong to China. If you want your company to expand and grow, then you need to think hard about entering this market. But beware, the road to China is not an easy path.

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an Francisco State University, 1995, Professor Wong holds up a single, white aspirin between his thumb and index finger. Those in the back of the class, ‘Doing Business in the Three Chinas – Mainland, Taiwan, Hong Kong’, struggle to see what it is.

“This is the great Chinese myth. Every one of you believes if you could cut a deal selling just one aspirin to all 1.245 billion Chinese, overnight you could retire a millionaire many times over,” says Wong.

He now holds up a large bottle of generic aspirin. “This is the Chinese reality. They’ll buy just one aspirin, figure out how to make it at half the cost, and then sell them back to you by the millions.”

Two decades later, the class is now called ‘Doing business in Greater China’. Hong Kong is united politically to mainland; Taiwan economically. China’s population is 1.34 billion and the myth has not died. Now it’s American, Australian, European, Canadian, Brazilian and other meat processors wanting to break down the Great Wall with the same goal in mind; if they could sell that one beef steak, one chicken thigh or one pork chop to everyone in China, baby could have new shoes for life.

This dream might not be pure fantasy, especially if you’re thinking beef. Beef consumption in China is still relatively low, notably when compared to pork and chicken.

This provides the greatest opportunities for foreign meat processors who want to get in on www.meatpacking.info

the ground floor. However, China’s production of pork and chicken cannot keep pace with demand and for those willing to jump through the regulation hoops, there is a market for both product and the technology to improve local production.

a waking giant

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apoleon said that when China awakes, she will shake the world; it would seem truer words have never been spoken. When China’s economic liberalization began in 1978 under communist party leader Deng Xiaoping – who famously said “To be rich is glorious” – few could have foreseen the country’s transformation into a global economic power. Today, China is the world’s largest exporter and the second largest economy. You would be hard-pressed to go anywhere in the world and not see someone selling a product labelled “Made in China”.

This change has left no sector of the country’s economy untouched. It has lured peasants off the land and into the cities and special economic zones, creating the largest mass movement of people in China’s history.

It is now the government’s official policy to encourage this migration, planning on 250 million people moving to urban areas within the next 12-years. To put this into perspective, this would be as if the entire populations of Japan and Mexico packed up and moved. These millions of Chinese workers are fueling the January~February 2015 | Meat Packing Journal | 25

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hile some countries have reserves of oil and gas, China keeps reserves of frozen pork, with major cities requiring a 10-day supply

fire of economic growth and, while they are providing the world with low cost goods, they themselves are often times exploited – as is the land itself, with industrial pollution now a serious problem in many parts of China.

In this drive for growth and profits, food safety laws are too often being ignored, with the Guangxi chicken feet scandal – where chicken parts 37-years-old were sold – becoming the latest symbol of China's ongoing food safety crisis. The South China Morning Post recently wrote: “Scarcely a day goes by without new and often mind-boggling concoctions hitting the domestic food market.”

It’s the negatives which make the press – not the positives – and with these, there have been colossal ones for China. Perhaps the greatest one being: its newest generation has grown up without thought or worry of famine, which as late as the 1960s was an unfortunate reality in parts of China thanks to Mao’s disastrous Great Leap Forward.

Strides in technology have been made; there is a real chance that the next flag planted on the Moon by an astronaut will be red with yellow stars. As factory growth in China moves up the product value chain, it has created a vast, middle class. This in turn is fueling an internal consumer market which is demanding new and better products – including foods.

The opportunities for foreign meat processors is with thes new middleclass urban consumers who “distrust the quality and safety of their own 26 | Meat Packing Journal | January~February 2015

food system, and express clear preference for imported food when it is available,” says Mark Bittman of The New York Times. They are willing to pay more for quality and safety. While older generations preferred buying their chicken at a live-food market or beef at an open-air wet market, the middleclass would rather buy their meat in modern packaging, requiring only a minimum of fuss between package, pan, and plate.

Each year the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) prepares 10-year projections of global agricultural supply, demand, and trade. In each projection, China – with its large population, rapid economic growth, and anticipated dietary change – is a key component.

Since at least the 1980s, agricultural analysts have anticipated that China’s dietary transition to a more meat-rich diet would have important impacts on world agricultural markets. The latest USDA projections again foresee dietary transition in China. Past projections overstated the pace of change, but there are signs of robust demand for meat and feed grains as China moves into a new stage of development.

Opportunities and rewards are there for those importers who are flexible enough to see how their products can fit into the culture and market, and are willing to work with a bureaucracy which seemingly creates and alters regulations, standards, and polices every time the wind changes direction.

Success or failure can be linked to mindset and the willingness to accept the fact that what works in Wichita, Brisbane or Hull, might not work in China.

emperor pig

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ork has traditionally been the mainstay of Chinese meat consumption with China accounting for nearly half of the world’s pork production and consumption. Its annual pork output is four to five times that of the USA and more than double that of the European Union. China slaughters 700 million hogs annually – around one hog for every two people and this is projected to rise.

While some countries have reserves of oil and gas, China keeps reserves of frozen pork, with major cities requiring a 10-day supply.

Almost all pork stays in country for the internal market, the Chinese have been farming hogs for thousands of years, and a pig is even one of the 12 animal signs of the Chinese zodiac but, surprisingly, it is less than a stable industry and here is one place where there are definite opportunities.

According to the USDA, China’s pork industry www.meatpacking.info

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is constantly buffeted by a range of influences, including disease epidemics, feed prices, policy interventions, seasonal consumption patterns, demands for other meats, and macroeconomic factors.

“Prices, hog inventories, and pork output in China fluctuate from year to year in response to various factors that influence the market, and China’s imports of pork tend to rise when Chinese prices are high,” says Fred Gale of the USDA. And, indeed, a price rise might be soon in coming. In September 2014 China said that it was to start exporting pork to Russia to take advantage of a shortage caused by EU/USA sanctions. Will the pork be taken from reserves or from hogs previously destined for local markets?

Yuiry Kovalev, chairman of the Russian Union of Pork Producers, has his doubts that Chinese pork producers can supply Russia with between 50,000 to 70,000 tonnes in 2015 and meet local demand. This will drive up local prices, making imported pork much more competitive in the Chinese market.

Source: USDA

China's Meat Imports and Projected Imports 3.0

Beef Pork Beef Poultry Pork Poultry

Million metric tons tons Million metric

3.0 2.5 2.5 2.0 2.0 1.5 1.5 1.0 1.0 0.5 0.5 0.0

2000

0.0

2005

2000

2005

2010

Year

2010

2015

2020

2023

2015

2020

2023

Year

Source: USDA

Per capita meatmeat consumption (kg) (kg) Per capita consumption

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stuck production ince the 1980s, Chinese efforts to modernize the industry and to try to take the cycles out of production have included standardizing hog breeds, feeds, and veterinary medicines; regulating the use of feed additives; enforcing animal health requirements; and shifting towards modern slaughter, processing and retail markets.

Efforts to modernize the pork industry were revisited in 2007; a period marked by soaring prices and widespread animal disease epidemics, combined with Chinese consumers eating 10 percent more meat than they did five years earlier.

A large part of this problem is China’s smallscale pig farms with China expert Dr Minxin Pei calling the industry “fragmented and low tech… with] hygienic conditions often primitive”. While in the USA, 87 percent of pork is produced on big pig farms with more than 2,000 hogs, 70 percent of pork in China is produced by pig farms with 500 hogs or less, says Pei. And, according to Chinese statistics, many hogs are being raised on farms with 10 or less.

While the manure once produced on these farms was used by local farmers for farm fields, this is no longer the case and its disposal has become a major environmental worry. Swine disease epidemics are a constant threat, with the disposal of diseased carcasses becoming a concern.

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80 China's Meat Consumption and Projected Consumption

Beef Pork Beef Poultry Pork Poultry

70 80 60 70 50 60 40 50 30 40 20 30 10 20 100 0

1980 1980

1985 1985

1990 1990

1995 1995

2000

Year

2000

2005

2010

2015

2020

2005

2010

2015

2020

Year Source: USDA

20

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China: eight basics While Mandarin (Standard Chinese) is the national language and is taught in all schools, the country has seven major language groups. In Hong Kong, Cantonese is the most common language, but many people also speak English.

Despite China’s large size, internally it only uses one time zone (GMT+8). It does not use Daylight Saving Time.

Main imports: machinery and equipment, oil and mineral fuels, plastics, medical equipment, organic chemicals, iron and steel, grains and soybeans.

Business hours: Chinese government and business offices are open Mon-Fri, 08001700 with an hour off for lunch at noon.

Retail stores are open every day.

Chinese New Year’s takes place between the end of January and mid-February depending on the lunar cycle. Many businesses are closed for at least five-days during this period – many longer during the 15-day festival - and travel can be difficult due to demand.

Renminbi (RMB) is the official currency, with the term ‘yuan’ used interchangeably.

It is best to exchange any remaining RMB before leaving the country. While not official, US dollars are often accepted.

Don’t plan on driving in China. An international driver’s license is not valid and even if you could, you wouldn’t want to due to road conditions and the poor driving standards. If you are doing considerable amount of travel in one specific region, consider hiring a car and driver. Most taxi drivers do not speak English; have a Chinese speaker writer out the address/directions in Chinese.

If at all possible, stay at an up-market hotel that has a concierge belonging to Les Clefs d'Or, identifiable by golden crossed keys on their jacket lapel. These people excell at solving problems, opening doors, and guiding guests independently and impartially.

28 | Meat Packing Journal | January~February 2015

China suffered national embarrassment in 2013 when 16,000 bloated dead pigs were discovered floating in Shanghai’s Huangpu River. Along with this story being picked up by the world press, it put fears into the residents of Shanghai in regards to their water supply, forcing the mayor to drink a glass of municipal water to show that it was safe.

According to the USDA, while many local officials once were rewarded for promoting small-scale pig production, they now see pig farms as a nuisance. Regulations and land use plans increasingly confine pig farms to designated areas distant from human settlements, roads, markets, and waterways.

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ith government subsidizes, China’s pork producers are now in a move away from backyard pork production to larger operations, with part of this modernization coming from buying millions of live animals raised

by American farmers as breeding stock and capitalizing on decades of cutting-edge US agriculture research.

“I liken it to their telephone system,” said Dr Mike Lemmon to Reuters. He is the co-owner of Indiana-based Whiteshire Hamroc, a foundation swine genetics company which specializes in exporting breeding stock to China. “Most of China’s mainland went from having no landlines to everyone having a cellphone. They’re doing the same with farming.”

Fitting into this strategy was the buying of US pork producing company Smithfield by Shuanghui International for US$4.7 billion in September 2013 – the largest takeover ever of an American company by a Chinese counterpart.

While there are some fears in the US that this transaction could lead to unsafe pork products from China being sold in the States, this unlikely for the conceivable future. When looking at the population differences between the two countries and China’s high per capita consumption of pork, China’s demand for pork is about six times larger than the USA’s. And, while Smithfield has around a quarter of the USA’s slaughter capacity, this is only a drop in the ocean in comparison to China’s.

The benefits for Shuanghui are clear: almost all of Smithfield’s farms use standardized techniques which allow pigs to be raised on an industrial scale. By purchasing Smithfield, Shuanghui has bought the technology, supply chain, and brand value to produce pork in a modern manner.

This strategy, as any old China Hand can tell www.meatpacking.info

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Andrew DEmbina

Below: A Chinese halal butcher selling beef and mutton

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Eight culture tips “Face” is a crucial concept in China, based on respect and the esteem one is held by others. Causing someone “to lose face” – even accidentally – can permanently damage personal and business relations. For example, while humor is considered an icebreaker in the West, making the slightest joke at someone else’s expense – or even your own – can cause the person to lose face.

At the same time, be aware of “giving face”. An example of this would be to praise someone’s help in front of their superior.

When meeting people for the first time, always address the oldest first.

Chinese will often nod as an initial greeting, but handshakes are becoming more common. Do not bow.

What we perceive as a personal question, the Chinese don’t. People will ask how much your salary is and if you’re heavy, how much do you weigh.

Give and receive a business card with both hands. When taking a card, study it for at least 15-30 seconds; the card represents the person. Always place it in a card holder which should be kept in an upper shirt or coat pocket. Never place it in your wallet and then put your wallet back in your rear pants pocket.

Do not talk politics and if pressured for a comment, it’s best to just say it is a complicated issue.

Chinese people will often try to avoid a direct “no” if they are unwilling to agree to something or if they believe a “no” will cause you to lose face. A statement such as “we will have to discuss this further” or “it will be challenging” usually means “no”.

At a restaurant, everyone tries to grab the bill at the end, but the person who should pay is allowed to win. If you invited the others, make sure it is you.

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you, is a well-trodden path in China’s pursuit of efficiency. Import a technology or create a joint venture, learn the best practices, apply those practices at a lower cost than oversea rivals and emerge as an aggressive competitor in the global market.

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hicken in China doesn’t create the sense of national pride the way pork does and it’s not the new calf on the block the way western beef is shaping out to be.

When avian flu rears its head in Hong Kong, the authorities don’t even bat an eye slaughtering thousands of chickens. The same wasn’t true for pigs during swine flu epidemics.

While chicken is popular in Europe’s and North America’s version of Chinese cuisine, most of those dishes were created in the West. General Tso might have been a famous general, but his namesake chicken dish probably came out of a New York City restaurant.

What Chinese chicken does seem to exceed at is food safety violations.

During a raid conducted in May 2014, but only reported in October, police in the southwestern province of Guangxi said they smashed an underground network that had been swamping the Chinese food market with substandard chicken feet, tripe, and throat.

Among their stomach-churning discoveries were chicken feet that date back to 1967, a time when China was still ruled by Chairman Mao and man had yet to step on the moon.

Li Jianmin, a local security chief, told the state news agency Xinhua that after smuggling the decades-old feet into China from Vietnam, the expired meat was treated with chemicals, including hydrogen peroxide, "to kill bacteria, prolong the expiry date" and make the feet "look white and big".

McDonald's Japan said in October 2014 as well, it would stop importing chicken from China and its restaurants would stop selling the meat, following a food safety scandal in which expired meat was sold to fast food outlets.

Thailand, quick on the mark, is where the hamburger chain is sourcing all its chicken in order to address the concerns of its Japanese customers.

Business, already booming at Charoen Pokphand Foods – Thailand’s biggest meat and animal feed producer and worth over $50 billion – will now see the mega-Asian company post revenue growth of 15 percent this year, higher than its target of 10 percent, says President and CEO Adirek Sripratak. www.meatpacking.info

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chicken rising

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here is good news for China’s poultry industry, and especially for foreign chicken processors who are looking at producing chicken in China for the Chinese market.

Per capita chicken consumption in China is low. In the USA, it is nearly 45kg per person; China is around 9kg. But, when you consider the overall size of the population in China, any increase is substantial and for the last three decades there has been a steady growth.

This ‘measly figure’ of consumption makes China the world’s second largest producer of poultry meat and eggs in the world, thanks in part to work of US companies Tyson and Cargill, and Brazil’s Marfrig and BRF in modernizing the industry and setting an example. Indeed, China’s top chicken companies such as Wens are producing close to a billion birds a year to meet Chinese demand.

In the five years through 2013, revenue for China’s poultry farming industry has grown at an average annualized rate of 7.7 percent to US$75.3 billion and two US meat giants are part of the driving force, according to business report IBIS World. Tyson Foods and Cargill each want their share of this burgeoning market, expected to produce 20 million tons of chicken this year with revenue growth of nearly 10 percent.

The research firm anticipates over the next five years this industry transitioning to vertical integration will mature with revenue of US$105.8 billion as China’s 1.34 billion consumers eat more chicken.

In vertical integration the poultry company controls the chicken from the egg though processing, typically using contracts with growers who house the birds during their 50-day maturation phase.

Tyson Foods has worked toward complete vertical integration of its China operations for more than a year. It's a move the company said will improve food safety standards in China while also helping grow topline sales. Donnie Smith, Tyson CEO, recently said that roughly 50 percent of its chicken business in China is vertically integrated, and by the end of 2014 it should reach 100 percent.

In China, Tyson processes chicken sold wholesale into food service for clients such as Yum Brands and McDonald’s as well fresh chicken sold in retail groceries like Wal-Mart and Sam’s, extending those longtime US relationships abroad. In addition, Tyson chicken is found in major supermarkets in China and in grocery stores with online shopping.

Tyson says it is processing about 1.3 million www.meatpacking.info

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Eight business and negotiation behaviors Chinese companies will often want to build a relationship before negotiations begin.

Business meetings start on time and being late is considered a serious insult.

Bring your own interpreter; don’t rely on one provided by the other party. Assume too, even if you are told otherwise, a person who doesn’t understand English, might very well. Be careful who you speak around.

Chinese negotiators think strategically and will take every opportunity to assess your weaknesses and strengths.

Delays by the Chinese may be intended to wear you down until you’re ready to concede more than you wanted.

Expect these delays and ride them out.

Never assume anything.

Don’t be pressured by a return-flight ticket and make a last-second deal you are not happy with.

Be prepared to walk away.

(Export Development Canada/Doing Business in China)

birds per week with a goal to reach three million per week by late 2014.

“We’re expanding the volume of companycontrolled birds we produce for our poultry operations. This includes both company-owned birds raised by contract farmers and companyowned birds raised on Tyson-owned and operated farms,” says Tyson spokesperson Gary Mickelson.

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ike Tyson, Cargill has made substantial investments in China. Known for beef and turkey in the US, Cargill went into chicken production with a US$250 million green field investment in Anhui, China.

The fully-integrated project covers each stage of the poultry supply chain, including chicken January~February 2015 | Meat Packing Journal | 31

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Above: China's beef often times comes from draught animals too old to work. The meat is tough and cooked by boiling in a pot or wok.

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breeding, raising, feed production, hatching, slaughtering and processing. Cargill incorporated its state-of-the-art technologies and innovations in food safety, poultry breeding, animal nutrition, disease prevention, environmental protection and energy saving into the project.

The facility has the capacity to process approximately 65 million chickens per year, as well as 176,000 tonnes poultry products per year.

According to Cargill, it is a part of the company’s continuous effort to support the modernization of agriculture and food safety in China.

“We are committed to being a valuable partner with the local poultry industry. We will utilize our global safety standards in food, employee safety and environmental management in China at the same levels we operate our business anywhere else in the world,” said Chris Langholz, president of Cargill Animal Protein China.

“We believe that applying our global expertise to local circumstances will help the industry and provide more confidence for Chinese consumers.

We wish to thrive together with China and help ensure the sustainable growth of China’s poultry industry.”

The timing for Tyson and Cargill couldn’t be better given that China’s image has suffered from multiple food safety gaffes in recent years and these two international meat companies have strong food safety records, according to analysts.

Tyson CEO Donnie Smith says while many chickens in China are still raised by small farmers, Tyson is bringing technology and practices common in the US to the Asian country. To keep birds healthy, Tyson uses ventilation systems in the houses, mills its own feed, controls access to farms and requires anyone entering or leaving the buildings to shower, he says, adding that customers in China are willing to pay more for the added food safety which Tyson provides.

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t’s just a matter of time. That is the word from Rabobank, the Australian and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ), the US Department of Agriculture, and the woman on the street; beef is going to be big in China.

“Since handover [1997] I’ve seen an increase in the amount of beef restaurants in Hong

www.meatpacking.info

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Andrew DEmbina

Left: Peking Duck being served in Beijing. More duck is consumed in China than beef.

Kong,” says Bernice Chan of the South China Morning Post. “Before ’97 there were a couple of good ones, now, there seems to be a lot more.”

According to Chan, it’s not the American/ British expat community which is flocking to them, but mainland Chinese.

“Status is very important for mainlanders and they want to show off,” she says. “If they take their friends to a French restaurant, they’ll look like fools, they won’t know what to order. But a steakhouse? All you have to do is point.”

Chan’s observations in Hong Kong in regards to beef being popular in restaurants plays across China. Beef is not part of the regular diet and accounts for less than 8 percent of total meat consumption, but it’s getting popular thanks to its image as a status meal.

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utside of northeast China where beef is more common, the average Chinese family is unfamiliar with beef cuts and cooking methods, leading to eating beef away from home, mostly in restaurants.

The beef that the majority of Chinese eat in these restaurants is tough and lean, coming from a tradition of slaughtered draught animals too old to work or from Indian buffalo which 34 | Meat Packing Journal | January~February 2015

enters the market through Vietnam.

But it’s hard to believe that once they taste tender, grain-fed, marbleized imported beef, Chinese consumers will want to go back to local beef. According to the USDA, current Chinese beef consumers place an emphasis on the following attributes: Freshness – Prefer to buy it fresh rather than chilled or frozen Cleanliness/safety – Majority of beef is sold in open-air markets where smell and visual appearance play an important part Convenience/preparation methods – Most Chinese are unfamiliar with beef cooking methods outside of boiling in a wok or hot-pot.

The knowledge gap in beef preparation methods is a barrier for expanding retail demand Fat/tenderness – Chinese consumers are used to a very lean cut of beef Price – Chinese consumers are very price sensitive. Urban middle class consumers are the most likely to buy beef Strong demand for offal and variety meats Consumption is high during winter, due in part to factors such as a lack of refrigeration There are doubts that many of these factors will still be influencing consumers in five-years’ time.

Local Chinese beef producers are facing many challenges and domestic production is having a difficult time catching up with demand in China’s beef market. While the Chinese government is now providing some support, the gap in productivity between China and other beef-producing countries continues to widen.

According to Rabobank’s latest report ‘China Beefing up Imports to Supplement Domestic Production’ China will need to allow a substantial increase in imports in order to cover the supply gap. Both Rabobank and the USDA expect beef imports to grow between 15-20 percent each year for the coming five years. This is substantially more than any other meat in China.

“China became a huge importer of beef in 2013,” says Chenjun Pan, an analyst for Rabobank. “According to official statistics, China’s beef cattle stock has been in continual decline since 2004, due to a lack of government support, low productivity, and a lack of famers willing to invest in beef production, deterred by high costs and a shortage of labor.”

In 2013 China’s growth in beef imports rose by 380 percent.

According to Rabobank, China’s beef cattle shortage is a structural issue and the industry faces many challenges, lagging behind other major beef-producing countries in all key aspects. These include: genetics, breeding, www.meatpacking.info

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productivity, farm management, and grassland/ feed resources.

Unlike pork, which the government sees as a strategically important agricultural product in China, beef is not. While the government needs to keep a certain ratio of self-sufficiency to ensure beef supply to its Muslim population, after recent clashes in western China between Muslims and Han Chinese, it is hard to see this becoming a number one priority.

Pork importers can find it difficult to be competitive in China – and make a decent profit – after adding in freight costs, high tariffs (12-20 percent), and value-added taxes (13-17 percent). However, with beef seen more as a luxury item, Chinese middle-class consumers are willing to pay more and there is considerable less local competition.

In 2010, only two percent of beef was sold through consumer retail shops; this figure is expected to rise to 40 percent by 2020. For meat processors around the world, this is great news for those who want to get in on the ground floor.

However, while most of China’s policies seem to be either politically motivated or a form of industry protectionism, it remains a fact that locally produced meat approved for sale in the USA, Canada, Australia, Brazil, Argentina, and the EU, has been subject to bans of one form or another during the last decade for perceived food safety reasons.

Today, Australia, Uruguay, New Zealand, Canada, and Argentina comprise the five biggest beef exporters to China, with a view

by Rabobank that the USA and Brazil will be allowed to jump back in by the end of 2014. Others think five-years might be a more reasonable guess.

For those playing strictly by the rules, Australia has a jump over all others.

aussie rules

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ustralia, the world’s third-largest beef exporter, saw beef and veal exports to China surge 76 percent in fiscal 2014, according to the Australia Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences. This figure can only rise thanks to recent negotiations on a free trade agreement with China, which Australian trade minister Andrew Robb is confident can be achieved by the end of 2014.

Australian mining tycoons are jumping into the act with Andrew Forrest’s company Minderoo buying Harvey Beef, Western Australia’s largest beef processor and the state’s only accredited exporter to China. www.meatpacking.info

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eight potential storms Tension is riding high in the South China Sea, with untapped/unknown oil and gas reserves, and competition for scarce fishing stocks the driving forces behind this. Seven Asian countries want a slice of the pie, and China wants all, declaring an EEZ which runs almost to the shorelines of the Philippines, Vietnam, and others.

Called the Diaoyu Islands by China and the Senkaku Islands by Japan, national pride is more of an issue than resources. If China’s growing naval strength takes an aggressive approach in removing the Japanese presence, countries that back Japan will see deals collapse.

As some have found out, pray the Dali Lama doesn’t schedule a state visit to your home country at the same time you’re hoping to clinch a China deal.

China is North Korea’s main ally. It has defended the North before and could again.

Your country imposes trade restrictions or tariffs on China for one reason or another, it’s a guarantee China will respond in kind.

An odd dichotomy exists between Taiwan (also known as the Republic of China) and the People’s Republic of China.

Mainland sees Taiwan as a break-away province which needs to be brought back into the fold; the ROC sees itself as the legitimate ruler of all of China. Both countries find this doesn’t get in the way of business. However, if Taiwan ever declares itself an independent country – which some Taiwanese political parties want – expect at least a Chinese naval blockade; at worse an invasion.

While Europe and the States are willing to turn a blind eye to political protesters being shot in western China, they won’t to same thing happening in Hong Kong. Sanctions will follow.

The US and Chinese navies are playing a cat & mouse came in the East China Sea with ships and planes. It is only a matter of time before someone turns left when they should have turned right.

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Right: Chinese consumers inspecting fresh pork and a wet market. China leads the world in pork consumption.

Forrest, who has a net worth of AUS$4 billion (US$3.5 billion), is also the founder of the Australian Sino Hundred Year Agricultural & Food Safety Partnership, a group that aims “to make Australia the most reliable and competitive food supplier to China”.

Minderoo plans to invest in upgrading Harvey Beef facilities to increase capacity to meet growing demand, with a focus on building ties to the Chinese market.

“Following detailed discussion with the Chinese leadership, we are determined to ensure that the Australian agricultural industry’s future in China is just as bright as our mining future,” says Forrest.

With the price for iron ore slipping, Minderoo is not the only mining company looking at moving into beef production, with Rio Tinto Group and Hancock Prospecting also going into the cattle industry.

“The trouble with iron ore is that you have to dig it out and move it by truck, but the great thing about cattle is they walk there for you,” said Barnaby Joyce, Australian agriculture minister in an interview.

On the flip side of the coin, two Chinese investment groups have established an AUS$3 billion (US$2.625 billion) fund to invest in Australian agriculture. It will focus on supplying produce to China, in particular infant milk formula, beef, lamb, and seafood.

This, however, isn’t stopping beef from the USA and other countries from entering China.

Since 2003, when China imposed a ban on US beef due to the BSE outbreak, US beef imports to Hong Kong have shot through the roof, with the vast majority of it heading north into mainland China via the gray market. Brazilian beef, too, has followed this same path after a ban was imposed on its beef in 2012.

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e’re left looking at Professor Wong’s aspirin. Will we be able to make that sell to each and every 1.34 billion?

With chicken meat this dream might remain just that. Thanks to US and Brazilian poultry companies, Chinese production has kept up with local demand for well over a decade, with just a slight surplus left over for sale outside of China.

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the aspirin

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In addition, it seems like most countries of the world have been banned at one point or another from exporting chicken to China and it’s hard to believe that this policy will ever end.

However, no matter how volatile the market is for bringing chicken into China, there will continue to be opportunities for equipment manufacturers and those bringing in technology to improve brood stock and food safety.

If China actually does go ahead with its massive sale of pork to Russia, China will have to make up the difference from somewhere for at least this coming year. The Chinese people are willing to put up with a lot from 38 | Meat Packing Journal | January~February 2015

Above: Shanghai is one of the world's fastest growing cities and a symbol of the 'New' China

their government, but not having pork isn’t one of them. If Chinese producers ratchet-up production, however, and Russia and the West make up, China could be left with a massive pork surplus, killing any chance of import sales.

But with beef, if you could sell to everyone in China just 100 grams of beef – slightly less than the amount of hamburger in a McDonald’s Quarter Pounder – this will require 134,000 tonnes of beef. An increase of 2kg – a couple of Sunday roasts – will increase the demand by nearly 2.7 million tonnes.

Any way you cut it, that’s a lot of beef and somebody has to fill the order. www.meatpacking.info

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33 Anderson Road, Middletown, CT 06457 Tel: (860) 347-7271 Fax (860) 347-9905 E-mail: sales@jarvisproducts.com Website: www.jarvisproducts.com

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Answer to a higher

authority European and American animal rights groups are calling for an end to the religious slaughter of animals, saying that to slaughter without stunning is unhumaine.

However, as MPJ has discovered, how an animal is slaughtered has little to do with the real story.

40 | Meat Packing Journal | January~February 2015

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aqib Mohammed stands with a three-man delegation from Dubai for photos. The meeting has run late in the North London office of the Halal Food Authority and Mohammed, CEO of the authority, looks tired.

Three days earlier he had flown back from Jakarta, Indonesia, where he attended a halal conference and his face shows the jetlag.

He sees the delegates to the door and ushers you into a narrow boardroom. As he sits down, Mohammed takes out his Smart Phone and places it next to him on a table.

Almost immediately it starts to vibrate and moves across the table. He looks at the number, frowns slightly, and turns to you, smiling now.

“Yes, you want to know more about halal ritual slaughtering. Good.”

Another day, another office and now you’re speaking to Shimon Cohen, campaign director of Shechita UK, about the Jewish shechita slaughtering method. This is the only way of producing kosher meat and poultry allowed by Jewish law, and like halal, it’s under attack in Europe.

While most might think that Mohammed and Cohen would not even step into the same room with each other, nothing could be further from the truth. Mohammed sees the way the kosher industry – well established in the UK and USA – as something to be respected, admired and copied. Cohen, knowing full well the struggles the growing halal industry faces, respects his Muslim counterparts for the work they’ve set out to do. Both see each other as men of God, understanding each other’s challenge of remaining true to a traditional, orthodox faith in a commercially driven world.

And you, while wanting to leave politics at the door, suspect that growing Islamphobia and

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anti-Semitism in Europe is more of a factor in trying to ban the religious slaughter method of animals than any animal rights issues.

To say that the Jewish kosher and Muslim halal religious laws are complicated and subject to interpretation would be one of the greatest understatements of the year.

While to lay-people the two are more similar than not, there are differences. Jewish laws are the older but, while Islam respects Mosaic Law as the word of God, it would also say that over time these laws became corrupt to some degree. The Koran, thus, was given to mankind as a remedy to this problem with their slaughter method now the correct religious one.

That said, most Muslims would not think twice about buying a kosher product if no halal was available. Orthodox Jews, on the other hand, would do without rather than buy halal.

To add to this confusion in regards to both halal and kosher foods, different governing bodies have come up with their own set of standards. For example, in London’s Golders Green area which is home to many of the UK’s Jews, on some restaurants are the seals of three different kosher approving agencies.

Jewish kosher laws traditionally date back to the time of Moses, believed by some to be around 3,000 years ago, making them – irrespective of Moses actually existing – the world’s oldest continuous food laws. And, religious Jews and Muslims would argue that these food laws go back even earlier, with God/Allah’s commandment to be a caretaker for the world’s animals the first law given to mankind.

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Left Saqib Mohammed of the Halal Food Authority

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Right: Shimon Cohen of Shechita UK

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hen countries ban religious slaughter, it is always about the control and movement of people, not animal rights

For clarity in this article, both kosher and halal laws will be of a general nature. As a food processor who is considering entering either market – which is something you should be considering – be aware that you will need specific instructions from the market you wish to enter.

shechita

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o a lay-person, what immediately sets apart the Jewish shechita method of slaughtering an animal from any other method on the planet is the amount of training that goes into becoming a shochet, a slaughterer.

To be considered for shochet training, a young man first must train to be an orthodox rabbi which, depending on how good a student the person is, can take anywhere from four to seven years, according to Aaron Bass of The PR Office.

After becoming a rabbi, another three-years of specialty training is involved in becoming a shochet. This consists of everything from animal physiology, to how to sharpen and use the chalaf – knife – to the religious side of slaughtering to ensure that the meat is kosher – proper. For example, if a chicken is supposed to have four bones in its wing, can a chicken with five bones be considered kosher? After this training is over, the man enters into an apprenticeship with

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an experienced shochet before becoming fully qualified.

While the shochet starts and ends his day with a prayer, prayers are not spoken over the animal and Jews do not consider the slaughtering of an animal for consumption a ritual killing.

Larger animals such as cattle or sheep are kept standing and comfortably restrained in a special crate, while chickens are held head-up in the shochet’s hand. The chalaf, which has a blade as least twice as long as the thickness of the animal’s neck, is drawn across the throat in a single motion, which cuts the mammal’s frontal structures at the neck, including the trachea, esophagus, the carotid arteries, and the jugular veins. Chickens’ necks are severed in a similar manner. No stunning is allowed.

Only after the animal is dead can it be hoisted and bled out, a requirement for kosher meat.

At this stage the animal is further examined for any irregularities or bruising which, again, could make it unfit for kosher classification.

Shochets are paid by the local Jewish community and are not paid a ‘per-animal’ rate, drawing the same daily salary if they kill one chicken or 240. Speed is not so much a factor, then, as doing it correctly. With chicken, an experienced shochet can slaughter around 30 birds an hour, as opposed to the thousands in a mechanized slaughtering house. This is one of the reasons why a kosher chicken in London costs around £10 for a 2kg bird (about $16.00/4.4 lb) as opposed to a supermarket price of £5 (around $8.00) for the same size of bird. For a comparison, organic chicken runs around £15 ($24) for a 2kg chicken.

halal

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o be certified halal by the UK Halal Food Authority, the slaughterer must be an adult Muslim and holder of a current slaughtering license given by the UK Food Standards Agency. This can be obtained, with all necessary training, in one day. Other halal licensing agencies allow the slaughter to be Muslim, Jew, or Christian.

Zibah is the method or the act of slaughter also known as Zibah-al-Ikhtiyaariy by which an animal or a bird is slaughtered. Requirements for zibah are: While some slaughtering houses put the slaughter prayer on an endless tape, the Halal Food Authority does not allow this, it must be spoken to each animal before slaughter.

The knife to be used must be razor sharp; the blade must be straight and smooth, and

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free from any serration, pits, notches or damage. The length of the blade must be at least four times the width of the throat of the animal to be slaughtered The animal must not be killed with a stungun; it must be alive when it is slaughtered.

However, stunning is allowed if the animal is stunned in such a way that it does not die from the stunning and can be brought back around without injury if the slaughtering process stops for the day Poultry and other birds must be restrained either in an upright or prone position for slaughter. Lamb, sheep, goats, calves (of less than 60kg dead weight) and other similar sized animals must be placed on a cradle for slaughter

and if hung on shackles – head up – all efforts are made that they do not injure or bruise themselves.

Larger bovines, equines, deer and similar sized animals must be restrained in a standing position for slaughter.

Zibah-al-Ikhtiyaariy must be done with a simple swipe across the throat. The cut should not be any deeper than necessary to sever the carotid artery, jugular vein and windpipe and must not sever the spinal cord. The slaughterer must pronounce aloud or under lip the Arabic words, Bismillah, AllahuAkbar (in the name of Allah, Allah is the greatest) in a reverential tone (if possible), when slaughtering.

After being slaughtered, lambs, sheep,

You should sell halal

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n the USA, the Jewish population is slightly less than 6 million with about 25-30% keeping kashrut – kosher – this would then be around 1.5 million to 1.8 million people.

But, the US market for kosher food is estimated to worth at least $15 billion. This isn’t a case of American Jews with very healthy appetites; instead the majority of kosher food buyers are not Jewish.

In the US, kosher food is considered better quality, safer, and healthier than most other food. This had led to the circle U logo of the Orthodox Union kosher certificate board being found on everything from canned tuna to Oreo cookies.

Much of this positive attitude towards kosher foods comes from a commercial launched in 1965 by Hebrew National, a maker of kosher hotdogs.

While hotdogs are a huge American favorite, what goes into them was – and is – a subject of controversy. Hebrew National’s ad had a child holding a hotdog and looking skyward, with the statement: ‘We answer to a higher authority’. The rest, as anyone in advertising would say, is history.

While the US kosher market continues to grow, there is some belief that the market has recently hit its saturation point, and from a world-wide perspective, can there be much more expansion?

MPJ believes not except during periods of short-term food safety scares like the horse meat scandal in the UK. The UK Jewish Chronicle reported during this time that the surge in demand for kosher meats “is the best thing to happen to the industry in years”.

Halal foods, however, are expected to show massive growth in Muslim countries and in areas where there is a significant Muslim population like the UK and France. This growth will not require non-Muslims jumping on the halal bandwagon to spur it on.

According to the 2013 report prepared by Thomas Reuters, ‘State of the Global Islamic Economy’, Muslims spent $1.088 trillion ($1,088,000,000,000) on food in drink in 2012. This is expected to reach $1.626 trillion by 2018. If the global Muslim 44 | Meat Packing Journal | January~February 2015

market was viewed as a country, it would be the world leader, surpassing China and the USA. Currently there are 57 country members in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), and while some are bitter enemies and show anything but cooperation, from an economic viewpoint it’s important to look at them as a whole.

Slightly more than 90% of OIC countries’ meat and live animal imports come from non-OIC countries, with top import leaders being the USA, Brazil, Holland, Germany and Australia. But, suppliers tend to be small and fragmented, leading to “tremendous opportunities”, according to the report. The chances for opportunities can only improve, too, as halal certification boards work closer together to create universal standards.

For those hoping that the US halal market might become like that of the kosher, a 2010 study by marketing from Ogilvy Noor showed that the Muslim American consumer market was worth $170 billion—a number that reflects a population of Muslim Americans near eight million.

With that comes a great deal of purchasing power, says Lisa Mabe, of Hewar Social Communications, and quoted on WBEZ Chicago: “There are millions of [Muslim] consumers just waiting to see which brands will be smart enough to engage with them, and those who do will see first-hand not only their spending power but their brand loyalty and brand advocacy.” Missing the Muslim market today, she says, would be like missing the Latino market in the 1990s. www.meatpacking.info

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nimal rights come before religion

goats and other similar sized animals must be restrained in situ for at least 20 seconds.

Bovine and other similarly sized animals must be restrained in situ for 60 seconds. Poultry and other birds must not be subjected to any further processing for at least 20 seconds. During the aforementioned period they must not be further injured, nor subjected to unnecessary stress or pain. Indeed it is desirable that efforts are made to calm them during this period.

The slaughterer must clean the knife after slaughter of every animal and must check that the knife still conforms to above rules. Note that the knife must not be sharpened in sight of animals awaiting slaughter.

The slaughterer or supervisor must ensure that all the flowing blood has been drained from the chicken or ovine or bovine carcass.

Left: Dan Jørgensen, Danish Minister of Agriculture, is an outspoken critic of religious slaughter.

halal DEMAND

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Danish Parliament

However, while the Jewish population of the UK is around 270,000, with around 5060% practicing a kosher lifestyle, the British Muslim population is nearly 3 million and growing. It’s estimated that 90% eats halal meat, but this huge demand for halal food is not being met by either local producers or importers who are certified halal by the Halal Food Authority or other certification boards. This allows questionable halal meat, which has been produced with full stunning and mechanical slaughtering, to enter the market.

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halal cattle stunner

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S-based Jarvis Products Corporation has recently introduced a new, Halal Mushroom pneumatically operated, high-speed captive bolt stunner especially designed for better stunning, and improved meat quality.

The USSS-2A non-penetrating pneumatic stunner is specially designed to implement high reliability, one shot, humane stunning procedures that render a stunned animal completely insensible to pain. There is no captive bolt to penetrate the skull. Safe to operate, it fires only once – with no recoil.

Augmenting the stunner is the AST-103 Air Stunner Tester; ensuring correct tool calibration and bolt velocity after any stunner repair or maintenance procedure. Also available is the MSPR-1 Multi-Set Point Pressure Regulator that quickly sets pressure selection for the Jarvis stunner.

Most halal certification boards approve the use of the Jarvis stunner since it allows the animal to recover fully if immediate slaughtering does not take place. However, be sure to check.

46 | Meat Packing Journal | January~February 2015

The controversy

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enmark has recently joined the growing ranks of countries around the world that are either banning the slaughter of animals without prior stunning, or are considering it, with the Danish Minister of Agriculture, Dan Jørgensen telling Denmark’s TV2 that “animal rights come before religion”.

In March 2014, soon after the Danish decision, the head of the British Veterinary Association came out against halal and kosher slaughtering; asserting that cutting the throat of an animal without stunning it caused prolonged and unnecessary suffering.

“They will feel the cut,” says John Blackwell. “They will feel the massive injury of the tissues to the neck. They will perceive the aspiration of blood they will breathe in before they lose consciousness.”

When Shimon Cohen attacks these comments, you expect to see smoke start billowing from his ears. He begins with the Danes.

“The Danish minister said that this was to put animal rights over religious rights and to have Denmark come in line with Norway’s ban.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

“First, as I pointed out to the minister, Norway banned the religious slaughter of animals in the 1930s so if Denmark is now banning it to be in sync with Norway, they’ve waited an awfully long time.

“Second, there hasn’t been any kosher slaughter of animals in Demark for 10-years; the market is too small to support a shechita. All kosher meat is imported.”

What Cohen sees is political maneuvering

by Danish politicians to take a stand against immigration – primarily Muslim – while giving them a way out to claim that it’s not.

“At least with a Dutch politician I spoke to he was honest about what his true intentions were: to keep the Muslims out,” says Cohn. “When countries ban religious slaughter, it is always about the control and movement of people, not animal rights.”

An example he gives is Switzerland which placed a ban on kosher slaughter in 1897.

Jews in Switzerland had just been granted full civil rights and this, combined with pogroms taking place in Eastern Europe and driving Jews westwards, made the Swiss fearful that their country would be overrun with Jews. By banning a core Jewish ritual, the Swiss found a disguised way to limit the immigration of Jews.

“With our method of slaughtering animals or www.meatpacking.info

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ChameleonsEye |Shutterstock

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by use of a bolt stunner, there is no evidence to say which is more humane,” says Cohen. “With both of them, you’re killing an animal.”

But, he adds, mechanical stunning leaves a lot to be desired.

“With shechita, it takes around 10-years before you’re allowed to kill an animal; with your typical slaughter house, it takes just a day of training. European veterinary bodies say the number of mis-stunned animals is around 31%, causing them pain and distress before slaughter.”

What this means, he says, is that live animals are entering the processing process of a factory while still alive.

“Now in the UK we’re supposed to be a bit better than this, so let’s call it 9% the total amount of animals mis-stunned here. This number exceeds the whole number of animals killed for the kosher market by a factor of 10,” he says. “If you’ve got 10 times as many animals mis-stunned as you have kosher, surely you should be attacking that?

“With shechita, you have a man, a blade, and a cow. We know at the end the cow will be dead.” Muslims, too, feel the same. A man, a blade, and a cow; it is impossible not to achieve a quick death.

In a series of three YouTube videos by Mercy Slaughter LLC, a US Texas-based halal www.meatpacking.info

Above: A Jewish shochet slaughtering a chicken.

slaughter house, managing member Sam Kouka demonstrates a proper halal slaughter.

In the first two videos, Kouka shows how he first subdues an animal, flipping it on its side and whispering prayers to it, and then how he can keep it restrained with just two fingers.

In the third video, he takes a goat into a slaughtering pen – completely shielded from any other animal – and turns the goat onto its right side so that its head is facing Mecca. He talks to the goat for a minute or so about Allah, and once the goat is completely calm and relaxed, Kouka slits its throat with a knife he has kept hidden from the animal.

“Allah has commanded us to ihsan, to excellence in all things. Thus if you kill, kill well, and if you slaughter, slaughter well. Let each of us sharpen his blade and let him spare suffering to the animal he kills,” says Kouka, reciting from the Koran.

Saqib Mohammed talks about how the Koran says an animal is to be respected and treated well during its entire life, with this respect following it to slaughter.

“To be truly halal, we should be concerned about how the animal is raised, that its food is halal, and that it is slaughtered as the Koran dictates,” he says. “But this world isn’t perfect and that’s our challenge.”

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SALT

In the crosshairs

By itself salt has little in the way of flavor, but try leaving it out of your marinade or coating recipie. At best your customers will call your products bland and uninspiring. However, the WHO is calling on governments around the world to reduce salt consumption in their populations.

MPJ looks at salt alternatives and why salt itself deserves a second shake.

48 | Meat Packing Journal | January~February 2015

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veryone seems to be gunning for salt and if sodium chloride is part of your processing process or coating/marinade list of ingredients – and no doubt it is – you have probably already started to reduce the amount that goes in your formula.

From Australia to Canada, consumers are being told they should have less of it and it is only in north of China where they still seem unafraid to pour it on, consuming a record-setting 13.9 grams a day of the white stuff. This is about double the consumption for males in the USA, who – according to health officials – are still on the high side of a healthy five to six grams a day.

With, however, around 80% of a person’s daily salt consumption coming from ‘hidden’ sources in foods such as lunch meats, bread, cereals, canned soup, and restaurant meals governments are expecting their nations’ food processors to be leading the salt-free fight.

But should we all be talking a second look? Is the research of the last 40-years, which has been the ammo used to wage war on salt, wrong? If this is indeed a fact, then salt will be in good company.

Coffee, eggs, GM corn, red meat, and a host of other foods and ingredients over the last couple of decades have been at times deemed as deadly as nightshade, only to find themselves rehabilitated – by the same science – and put back on the shelf.

Indeed, the July 2011 Scientific American it declared in a headline: “It’s time to end the war on salt”. Author Melinda Moyer writes that if the US did conquer salt, what would it gain? “Bland French fries, for sure. But a healthy nation? Not necessarily.”

Moyer cites a meta-analysis of seven studies involving a total of 6,250 subjects in the American Journal of Hypertension which found no strong evidence that cutting salt intake reduces the risk for heart attacks, strokes or death in people with normal or high blood pressure.

In May 2011, European researchers publishing in the Journal of the American Medical Association reported that the less sodium that study subjects excreted in their urine—an excellent measure of prior consumption—the greater their risk was of dying from heart disease. Moyer says that these findings call into question the common wisdom that excess salt is bad for you.

unequivocal evidence

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lthough worries about a salt/high blood pressure connection have been around for well over 100-years, it wasn’t until the 1970s that it started moving to the forefront of health worries. This occurred when Lewis Dahl of Brookhaven National Laboratory claimed he had unequivocal evidence that salt causes hypertension, based on both environmental factors – the consumption of salt – and genetics.

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committee for the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

For example, an often cited 1987 study published in the Journal of Chronic Diseases reported that the number of people who experience drops in blood pressure after eating high-salt diets almost equals the number who experience blood pressure spikes, with many staying exactly the same.

it's all in the data

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As part of his study he worked with rats where he was able to induce high blood pressure by feeding them the human equivalent of 500 grams of sodium a day, which is a bit over one pound, reports Moyer.

Based largely on Dahl’s work, in 1977 the US Senate’s Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs released a report recommending that Americans cut their salt intake by 50 to 85%.

From the beginning, a problem existed in both the pro/anti-salt camps, and this is how people can vary in their physical respond to salt. “It's tough to nail these associations,” says Dr Lawrence Appel, an epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins University and the chair of the salt 50 | Meat Packing Journal | January~February 2015

rom the first salt/high blood pressure test in 1904 to today, few on either side are happy as to how tests are performed and the data then interpreted. “A great number of promises are being made to the public with regard to this enormous benefit and lives saved,” Hillel Cohen of Albert Einstein College of Medicine told Scientific American.

But it is “based on wild extrapolations?”

Dr Francesco Cappuccio – a cardiologist at the University of Warwick, UK, and a leading world expert on the effects of salt on hypertension – says that it would be cost prohibited to do proper testing. During the recent Salt Reduction Forum held in October 2014, he said that a correct test would involve 10,000 people, run from five to 10 years, and would require accurately measuring salt intake and extraction.

And, because one part of the study group would be on a low-salt diet, the other half would have to on the opposite. “How can you ethically have a test group that you’re encouraging to have a high salt diet?” he asks.

The idea of such a test – and the problems involved – are not new and Appel said earlier that such a trial “cannot and will not be done”, in part because it would be so expensive. “But unless we have clear data, evangelical anti-salt campaigns are not just based on shaky science; they are ultimately unfair,” he said.

the salt is cast

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owever, as the speakers at the Salt Reduction Forum said, while there have been flaws in past research, as far as governments and world health bodies are concerned, the evidence is clear and “the debate is over”. When salt reduction plans have been put into place, such as in Finland and the UK, hypertension and stroke rates have decreased.

“Most people efforts to improve their diets have failed,” says Professor Jack Winkler, director of the UK’s Food & Health Research. But with www.meatpacking.info

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salt, the UK and Finnish governments put the responsibility of change onto the processors.

“The contrast with salt has been amazing.

Targets are being met, the salt reduction plan [UK] is working. A 15% reduction in the first phase has been amazing over the last eight years.”

Winkler says that through product reformulation, manufacturers have reduced salt in small steps and in taste tests; most consumers cannot taste the difference.

This affects processors differently. A lot depends on where the processor is located and your market. The World Health Organization has asked for a 30% reduction in salt consumption, but no country is on board with that target.

Indeed, world salt reduction leaders Finland and the UK, while getting praise for their efforts, are taking a slow 30-year approach in reaching it.

While it seems that almost every country in the world has acknowledged that salt levels need to be reduced, there has been a huge difference on how this is being tackled. In the USA there has been considerable discussion, but it remains up to the consumer to make an intelligent choice.

Australia, New Zealand and others are asking processors to voluntarily make reductions, with very mixed results; more support from bakers and less from meat processors.

This should be no surprise. Cargill has a video showing a researcher slicing a ham with five different levels of salt. The ham with no salt has zero binding and comes out of the skin as mush.

The color, too, of the hams with little to no salt looks unappetizing. But, if baker forgets to add salt to his bread, all he’s left with is bland bread.

What is surprising, international corporations such as Kellogg’s do not have a blanket salt reduction policy in place but, instead, treat each country differently. According to Dr Graham MacGregor, professor of cardiovascular medicine at the Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine in London and director of World Action on Salt and Health, Kellogg’s salt levels vary in products – such as corn flakes – depending on where they are sold.

Dr Howard Moskowitz, a US food scientist and consultant to major food manufacturers, told The New York Times that companies have not shown the same zeal in reducing salt as they had with sugars and fat. While low-calorie sweeteners opened a huge market of people eager to look better by losing weight, he said, salt is only a health concern, which does not have the same market potential.

“If all of a sudden people would demand lower salt because low salt makes them look younger, this problem would be solved overnight,” he said. www.meatpacking.info

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Why we need it

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alt – or more accurately its constituent ions sodium and chloride – is a vital nutrient. Sodium and chloride help maintain a body’s fluid balance and sodium is one of the ions used by nerve cells to create electrical impulses.

Unlike other chemicals, our body has evolved to detecting it. Out of the five taste buds on a human tongue, one is dedicated to salt – the only one finely tuned to a single chemical. It’s believed this is because early hunter/gatherer humans’ diet would have been low in salt and needed a way of detecting the vital chemical. Again, because of this past, our bodies have become experts at holding onto salt, largely through a recycling unit in our kidneys.

Pure salt only entered the human food chain around 5,000 years ago when the Chinese discovered it could be used to preserve food.

If you have too much sodium in your blood, your body will start to hold on to water to try to dilute the sodium.

This is why when you’ve had a pepperoni pizza with salt in the crust, cheese and topping, you become thirsty.

This increases the amount of fluid in your body and your blood will increase in volume. As this happens, more pressure is put on your blood vessels and your heart has to work harder. Over time, the extra pressure and work can stiffen your blood vessels and cause high blood pressure.

Why we love it

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alk to anyone who has been to France, the one thing they will agree on is how good the bread tastes there. While the French might claim it’s the flour or water, it’s the high amount of salt which brings out the flavor.

A 100g serving of French bakery chain Paul’s pain de campagne has 2.83g of salt. Across the Channel in England, 100g of Tesco sliced white bread has 0.6g. As all processors know, from manufacturers of ham to fried chicken to even coffee, a bit of salt shakes up the taste buds.

Salt removes the bitterness from foods and makes it sweeter.

Sodium chloride also works in tandem with fat and sugar to achieve flavors that grip the consumer and do not let go.

“Once a preference is acquired,” a top scientist at Frito-Lay wrote in a 1979 internal memorandum, “most people do not change it, but simply obey.”

Is a love for salt innate? Despite a widespread belief that we naturally crave salt, this desire appears to be learned.

People living in traditional societies that have no access to salt, such as the Yanomamo tribe in the Amazon, which have the lowest daily intake of salt in the world (0.01g), find pure salt repulsive. That said, once they move into towns and are exposed to it, they crave it like the rest of us.

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Replacements

s noted in the lead article – ‘Salt between the crosshairs’ – most countries are encouraging its meat processors to reduce salt levels in their products.

However, reducing sodium chloride is easier said than done, due to salt playing a major role in flavor and safety of food products.

Dr Janice Johnson, food application and technical services lead at Cargill, says: “Salt is one of the more valuable ingredients out there, when you really think of all the functional roles it does for food products. These include adding a salty flavor; flavor enhancement; yield value; and protein extraction. “[With salt substitutes] no one thing can give you all so it takes a lot of smart calculations and reformulation,” she says.

But, there are strategies food manufacturers can follow to reduce sodium without sacrificing safety or flavor.

“For any food product, you have to consider how much sodium you have, what your sodium target is going to be, the ingredient source of sodium and, more importantly, what’s the functional role of the sodium-containing ingredient in that product?” says Johnson.

Initiatives directed around salt replacing ingredients are mainly focused on the addition of other mineral salts, eg potassium chloride, 52 | Meat Packing Journal | January~February 2015

flavor enhancers and yeast extracts with strong umami characteristics.

There has also been research into and development of methods that aim to decrease salt in foods, including slowly decreasing the salt content in food products over a long period of time – “reduction by stealth” – altering the food matrix, the inclusion of water in oil in water emulsions, as well as the inclusion of aromas giving the perception that the product is saltier than it is.

Before approaching any sodium reduction application, Johnson emphasizes the importance of setting realistic sodium targets and balancing consumer acceptance.

Her best advice on achieving sodium reduction benchmarks: “It’s constantly testing, reevaluating, putting it [products] through shelf-life, and putting it through sensory panels to make sure that you’re not deviating too drastically.”

There are numerous salt reductions solutions on the market. Here is a look at just some of the few.

Premier potassium chloride Cargill A granular, food grade, odorless, white crystalline salt with a typical saline-like taste.

Premier potassium chloride was developed www.meatpacking.info

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to meet the needs of food manufacturers for replacement of sodium chloride or potassium enrichment in a wide range of food processing application. Contains tricalcium phosphate as an anti-caking agent.

Saltwise Cargill SaltWise sodium reduction system offers the potential for significant sodium reduction, together with “great taste and ease-of-use in processed meat, meal, soup, sauce/dressing and salted snack applications,” claims Cargill. With the SaltWise, you can: Reduce sodium in product formulations by up to 50% Deliver the flavor of salt Improve taste in existing reduced-sodium products without increasing sodium Use as easily as salt in a variety of food applications

Sub4salt Jungbunzlauer As an alternative to salt, Jungbunzlauer has developed a 1:1 substitute containing 35% less sodium. This product called Sub4salt is a blend of sodium chloride, potassium chloride, and sodium gluconate.

Especially for the use in meat products, this www.meatpacking.info

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blend has been combined with sodium nitrite to be the first sodium-reduced, ready-to-use curing salt. Sub4salt cure provides the same functionality as standard curing salt and can be used as a 1:1 substitute as well.

More than 25% sodium reduction can be achieved by simply switching from sodium to potassium based lactates or lactate blends. In combination with Jungbunzlauer’s Sub4salt cure. a sodium reduction of even more than 50% is possible with a taste acceptance that is still good, claims the company.

Soda-lo Tate & Lyle Tate & Lyle’s Soda-Lo salt microspheres is a salt reducing ingredient that tastes, labels and functions like salt because it is salt, says the company. With Soda-Lo, food manufacturers can reduce salt levels by 25 to 50% in various applications without sacrificing taste.

Soda-Lo salt microspheres is created using a technology that turns standard salt crystals into free-flowing crystalline microspheres. These smaller, lower-density crystals efficiently deliver salty taste by maximizing surface area relative to volume.

Because Soda-Lo is made from salt, it has none of the bitter aftertaste or off-flavors associated with some other salt compounds or substitutes, claims Tate & Lyle.

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spice it up Reduce, or take out the salt, and with it goes the flavor and your customers. But, by adding quality spices, all-important flavors can return. There is a reason why humans have been trading in spices for over 12,000 years.

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irst the bad news; replacing salt in meat would be easy if only flavor was the only issue, but it’s not. To see what happens when a ham is created without salt functionality; go to Cargill’s ‘Salt in perspective’ webpage and watch the video: ‘The effects of no salt on ham’.

It’s not a pretty sight.

However, the use of quality herbs and spices can improve the acceptable sensory in products which are being reformulated with a lower salt content and/or are using salt replacements, as Dr Nigel Brunton found while conducting research at the Teagasc Ashtown Food Research Center in Dublin, Ireland.

Part of his research consisted of creating taste panels in which products with a high salt/ low salt content were offered. While in many cases his taste panels did not always express a preference for foods with a higher salt content, there was a flavor difference between high/low salt meals.

To compensate for this loss of flavor, a number of herb/spice blends were formulated that resulted in acceptable taste.

For some processors, however, there is a reason why they create products with a high salt content. Professor Francesco Cappuccio, a cardiologist at the University of Warwick, UK, says that he found that low-quality/low-cost processed food items which are targeting lowincome families have high levels of salt and fat to compensate for the lack of flavor and quality in the main ingredients.

For both of these problems of too much/too little salt, the use of quality spices and herbs could very well be the answer.

Peter Brown, head of new product development at spice manufacturer A C Legg Inc in Alabama, USA, agrees with this.

“I have 30-years’ experience in the spice industry and with salt, I’ve seen consumer interest in it come and go over much of those 30-years,” says Brown. “One of the more popular www.meatpacking.info

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salt replacements in use today is potassium chloride, but after doing a replacement of about 20%, you start picking up a metallic taste.”

According to Brown, there are advantages with salt that salt replacements have as of yet been fully able to match. These include: Flavor When mixed with protein, salt allows the extraction of salt soluble proteins [actin and myosin] to provide binding for processed meats Can be added separate to control or minimize protein extraction in certain categories of fresh meat products Some antimicrobial benefits Used as a carrier for spice extractives “But then consumers want their food to be convenient without sacrificing quality and flavor; to be either ready-to-eat or to have a quick preparation time; and then to be low salt and low fat,” he says. “As time goes on, this will be even more important for consumers; it’s a challenge.”

In creating a new spice blend, he says most large companies with a R&D staff already have a good idea of what they want.

“They’ll say they want a Cajun flavor and that it will be used in a specific protein: chicken, pork, or beef,” says Brown. “We’ll create a sample and we’ll back and forth, with them wanting more heat or less, more garlic or whatever.”

He says that A C Legg does around 3,000 samples per year on average. “I’m at the place now where I can taste a recipe as I write it.”

One aspect of the use of herbs and spices that is gaining interest on both sides of the Atlantic is the use of them as effective anti-microbial agents and preservatives.

“Herbs and spices as preservatives is a growing area as we get to know the science and understand what works. You are going to see them used more and more in future food products,” says John Dunn of market research company RTS Resource. “This is the Holy Grail for food manufacturers, to be able to reduce the salt content of products, but still retain the flavor and the functionality.”

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P r o d uc t s

Product releases

Waterjet portioner offers high yield Single line handles crust freezing to in-laying Slicer designed for safety and cleaning The new PowerMax 3500 from Formax - a brand from Provisur Technologies Inc - features an industry-leading open hygienic design for easier cleaning and sanitation that results in superior food safety, according to the company.

“Our commitment to maximum slicer hygiene and unsurpassed food safety by incorporating the American Meat Institute Foundation’s 10 principles of sanitary design, among other things, are key driving factors behind the entire PowerMax slicing line,” says Provisur.

The capability to have a whole line dedicated to the portioning of fresh meat is now available from Interfood Technology, following the introduction of TVI’s total concept. TVI’s new line offers crust freezing, slicing, portion control, shingling, and tray dispensing, providing the ideal solution for a wide range of fresh meats – beef, lamb, pork and turkey – for both bone-in and bone-less products as well as dicing.

JBT’s DSI 800 Series Portioner is a waterjet portioning system that offers versatility and ease of use plus the highest yield and throughput in a compact space, making it the cost effective portioning choice for processors, claims the company. This device represents the latest technology in scanning, computing and servo equipment, providing protein processors with more throughput in a 40% smaller footprint than competing alternatives, says JBT. The smaller footprint allows more room for efficient material handling upstream, improved options for packout downstream and more capacity in existing factory space. Whether working with meat or poultry, the DSI 800 allows processors flexibility and quick changeover time.

Checkweigher/metal detection systems with smaller footprint Loma Systems’ new CW3 Compact Combo checkweighting and metal detection units models ensure highest levels of quality assurance for food processors, manufacturers and packers with limited production space, says the UK-based company. With up to 30% smaller footprint than similar systems and a modular, hygienic design, these new additions to the company’s CW3 portfolio ensure high levels of quality assurance by providing superior and reliable product inspection for food processors, manufacturers and packers with limited production space, been built to the company’s ‘Designed to Survive’ specifications.

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New topcoat handles food labeling condition A new European food-approved topcoated product has been added to the already extensive Avery Dennison food labeling film portfolio. The addition means that Holland-based Avery Dennison now offers the widest range of food-approved films in Europe, with materials that can support a large variety of food labeling conditions. PP60 Top Cavitated White Film with S2045N hot-melt adhesive and a food-approved topcoat is the latest material in the food-approved portfolio. This topcoat can be used in any food application, including chilled conditions that require higher performance levels, faced by all food producers today.

Printer modules can be quickly changed The Linx CJ400 was created the needs of end users..

Features include: portability, fast set-up and ease of use, and an Easi-Change service module that can be changed in minutes, meaning scheduled maintenance can be carried out without the need for a trained technician or service call.

“On-demand" packaging machine saves money Meat packaging operators now have a more cost effective way to package their products thanks to a new ‘on demand’ bagging machine produced in a partnership between US-based Coveris and Delkor Systems, says the two companies. The new Versaflex machine is designed to work seamlessly with existing meat packing systems and uses state-of-the-art technology to cut bags to custom lengths from tubestock. Eliminating the need for large premade bag inventory, the customization offered by Versaflex can also significantly reduce waste.

According to Coveris, the idea came from customer demand for a more efficient way to reduce costs in their meat packaging. Versaflex has been fabricated to work with Maraflex and Clearshield vacuum shrink tubestock from Coveris. Available in both in-line and off-line models, Versaflex eliminates many problems associated with pre-made bags.

Fully Automatic Stock Transfer System (MFAST) Milmeq has developed the MFAST, an automated sorting, storage and retrieval system to assist with product management and distribution needs. It is capable of operating at -20 degrees Celsius and has an in-built multi-use traveling beam which simultaneously stores product and then retrieves product upon return travel in order to assemble order lots ready for palletizing. The system optimizes the space required for storage and palletizing areas displacing the need for manual identification and order makeup. The robust design, automated mechanics and intelligent controls system allows for a high structure.

www.meatpacking.info

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Bag for life

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Almost all large stores are using centralized meat packing facilities to save money processing case-ready meats – especially with expensive beef.

But, what good is it saving money at that end if stores are losing it at the till due to meats having a short shelf-life, off-odors and flavors. Some, however, are discovering low-oxygen packaging with oxygen scavengers to be the answer to extending shelf-life and meat quality.

resh meat sales are driven by consumer preferences and the consumer’s acceptance of the choices presented in the retail market. In the not so long ago past, choices were limited by what the butcher had available.

The butcher would then cut the meat and package it in foam trays right in the retail store.

There were, however, many limitations to this practice. In addition to limited choices which depended on the size of the store and the meat department, display life was limited, consumer storage life was limited, and sanitary practices varied from store to store. This combination resulted in increased costs, food waste, hygiene concerns and varying consumer satisfaction.

Fortunately, technological packaging innovations have expanded the options available to the processor, the retailer, and the consumer.

The cutting of carcasses, primals, and subprimals into retail-sized packages has moved from the butcher to centralized meat packaging operations. These facilities ship individually wrapped cuts of meat directly to retail locations ready for placement in the meat display case.

Thus “case-ready” is fast becoming the standard in the fresh meat industry.

There are many advantages as well as economies to case-ready meat packaging system. Since there is no longer a need for a 58 | Meat Packing Journal | January~February 2015

butcher on site, overhead costs at the retail level are reduced. Centralized packaging also provides consistency of the product and safeguards brand integrity.

In addition, safety is improved as meat processing facilities are under continuous USDA inspection and must comply with HACCP, or the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point system.

This is a global process control system designed to identify and manage all factors critical to the quality and safety of fresh meat. With meat being packaged for the consumer at the centralized packaging facility, it is less likely to be exposed to outside contaminants and, with the right packaging, will stay fresh longer.

demand for longer shelf-life

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ackaging meat in a centralized meat packaging operation requires that shelf life be extended. The product needs to be packaged in a manner that will survive shipping and be acceptable to the consumer.

Thus, the issue of overall shelf life of fresh meat is at the core of choices made when setting up a case-ready program. Meat cut at the store may have a display life of three to four days, more or less. Meat packed in high oxygen modified atmosphere (MAP) at a centralized processing location will have an overall shelf www.meatpacking.info

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life of eight to 10 days, more or less. If a low oxygen MAP is used the overall shelf life may be 15-18 days and still have three to four days display life.

The high oxygen MAP system has been used extensively for a number of years but is falling out of favor, not only because of the shelf life limitation but because of problems with internal color, oxidized flavors, and accelerated rancidity.

Some packers use the familiar overwrapped foam tray and pack multiple trays in master bag which is vacuum/gas flushed with a high oxygen gas mixture before sealing. The gas mixture is typically 80% oxygen with CO2. Alternatively, where a master bag is not used, a high barrier tray and high barrier heat sealed lid must be used and because the meat cannot contact the lid, the product looks over packaged and requires significantly more display space per pound of meat at retail.

Low-oxygen MAP is fast becoming the favored system because of extended shelf life and improved consumer acceptance. This is more developed in the United States due to longer supply lines, but its potential is being evaluated in parts of Europe and South America, as well.

With low-oxygen MAP, the processor packs the retail cut or freshly ground meat in the familiar foam tray and overwraps it with a clear permeable plastic wrap. Several packaged retail cuts are then placed into a master bag, the www.meatpacking.info

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headspace is evacuated and then gas flushed with an inert and preserving mixture of gases and then sealed. The MAP mixtures typically contain some carbon dioxide which has a preserving effect and nitrogen which is inert. An oxygen scavenger is then used to absorb oxygen remaining in the master bag, oxygen in the tray, and oxygen entrained and bound in the meat itself. Best practice is to design the package and process so that this is accomplished in the first day or two immediately after packing.

The retail location then receives case-ready cuts or grinds in a stable condition which can be stored or immediately displayed. When the product is needed for display, the master bag is removed and disposed of in the normal fashion along with the oxygen scavenger. A use by or freeze by date sticker is added to each wrapped tray, according to local policy and practice. The trays of case-ready meat are then ready for the retail display case.

what consumers prefer

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onsumers prefer the look and taste of meat packaged in a low-oxygen MAP system. Case ready meats packed with a low-oxygen MAP system look like it just came out of the back room and was cut fresh from the butcher. Low-oxygen MAP allows meat to retain its color and flavor much longer while January~February 2015 | Meat Packing Journal | 59

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avoiding the metallic and oxidized off-aromas, off-flavors, browning, bone darkening, etc., of high oxygen packed product. This consumer preference of low-oxygen MAP is reflected in increased same-store sales.

The extended shelf life achieved with lowoxygen MAP used in conjunction with an oxygen scavenger provides critical advantages to processors. A strong advantage to this system is that it makes better use of existing operations.

Processors are able to have longer and, therefore, more economical run sizes. The extra days of shelf life gained by switching to low oxygen packaging gives processors the opportunity to build inventory, instead of processing products as ordered from retailers. Geographic expansion becomes possible with the additional time for shipment. Multiple strategically placed facilities allows near national coverage.

The retailer benefits from extended life in the master bag which allows meat to be added to display as needed. The excellent color retention afforded with the low oxygen case-ready program reduces mark downs and lost product and improved consumer satisfaction improves turns.

The net result of all of these factors is that 60 | Meat Packing Journal | January~February 2015

sales are increased and shrink is reduced.

The validity of the low oxygen master bag system has been extensively tested at major universities. Stability of the protein and lipid components has been demonstrated. The microbiological quality over the storage life and display life has been evaluated to assure that the techniques used for packaging and handling do not mask spoilage. Aesthetic and sensory characteristics have been evaluated at each stage of the process with positive results. In addition, the condition of the meat and the processing conditions needed for success of the system have been well defined.

Low-oxygen MAP used with an oxygen scavenger is the perfect solution when a longer shelf life is required. When oxygen scavengers are used properly (i.e. sized correctly, used with non-permeable packaging) with low-oxygen MAP the benefits translate into money saved with a great potential for increased profits.

Extended shelf-life provides the opportunity to expanded distribution and a greater potential for sales, while the retention of color and the prevention of off-odors and flavors mean increased customer satisfaction, more sales, and repeat customers. www.meatpacking.info

IPPE

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IPPE 2015 The ones to watch I

its going to be big. Its going to be busy. You need to be ready. The 2015 International Production and Processing Expo is set to surpass all previous shows.

Held every year in Atlanta, Georgia, the heartland of the US Poultry industry, the 2015 edition of the show is expected to draw some 28,000 visitors and 1,200 exhibitors across 450,000sqft (42,000sqm) of exhibition space.

The show is comprised of the three integrated trade shows – International Poultry Expo, International Feed Expo and International Meat Expo.

“More than 85 percent of the show floor has been booked, including our expansion into Building C. We anticipate more than 28,000 attendees at the 2015 IPPE, with the Expo providing an excellent location to learn about new products and services and for businesses to collaborate and attendees to network. The 2015 IPPE will also benefit from an expanded audience as AMI and the North American Meat Association (NAMA) complete their merger,” states Charlie Olentine, IPPE show manager.

“NAMA members are excited to be a part of IPPE moving forward,” says Barry Carpenter, NAMA President and CEO. “Their presence will bring increased value to all the show’s exhibitors, as they look to find the latest technology, equipment and services in the industry.”

IPPE will also feature dynamic education programs addressing current industry issues, combining the expertise from American Feed Industry Association, American Meat Institute and US Poultry.

While based each year at the heart of America’s poultry industry, the show continues to draw delegates from around the world.

In 2014 the show attracted more than five thousand delegates from overseas with Brazil, Columbia, China and Nigeria sending the most attendees. Some 11 percent of attendees bought equipment at the 2014 show.

www.meatpacking.info

MPJ: booth B-8425

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Top five turkey consuming countries, 2012 Alltech Booth: A-1507

Cryova - Sealed Air Corporation Booth: B-5329 Food Processing Equipment Corporation (FPEC) Booth: B-5133 Heat and Control Booth: B-5615

Ingredients Solutions Booth: 7457

Jarvis Booth: B-5636 & B-7027

Jungbunzlauer Booth: 8019

Linde Booth: B-5663

Multisorb Technologies Booth: B-7069 Multivac Booth: B-7447

Alltech’s mission is to improve the health and performance of people, animals and plants through nutrition and scientific innovation. Founded by Dr. Pearse Lyons in 1980, and headquartered in Kentucky, USA, Alltech has a global presence in 128 countries and is supported by 3,500 employees. For over 30 years, Alltech has worked with integrators to improve poultry health and performance through innovations such as: Alltech Gut Health Management, Alltech Mineral Management and Alltech Mycotoxin Management.

Sealed Air’s latest expansion to its Cryovac® Darfresh® vacuum-packaging line enhances meat and poultry freshness while also improving processing efficiency. The Cryovac® Darfresh® on Tray package features a tight vacuum seal that extends product shelf life and prevents leaks. Featuring operational speeds nearly 40 percent faster than most tray-skin machines, processors can produce Cryovac® Darfresh® on Tray packages at throughput rates of up to 100 packages per minute. Visit booth B-5329 to learn more.

For more than 50 years, FPEC has built a solid reputation on unmatched customer service, food processing innovations, and product reliability. FPEC designs, manufactures, and services complete processing systems, line automation and integration, and custom-built equipment, as well as a wide array of food processing equipment for mixing, cooking, tumbling, brining, conveyance, and process improvement. FPEC will demonstrate its newest innovations at IPPE Atlanta.

Brown with the boss! The new CEOTM color enhancing spiral oven cooks uniformly and develops appetizing product color and flavor. Ishida’s new IP69K rated Open Frame weigher features a remote electronics cabinet for easy cleaning and maintenance.

CEIA MS21 metal detectors eliminate false inspection rejects with no reduction in sensitivity. Save floor space and apply all styles of breading with Micro-Breader.

Detect thin, low density foreign objects in overlapping products with Ishida IX-G2 X-ray inspection.

The World's Largest Independent Supplier of Carrageenan, offering traditionally refined andNatural Grade products as well as Nalgin™ Sodium Alginate, Pectin, Locust Bean Gum and Tara Gum. Our R&D is equipped to assist in product development. Dairy, meat, poultry, sauces, dressings, bakery, pet food, pharmaceuticals, toothpaste & confections are some of our specialties.

The ISI staff is dedicated to providing quality products, exceptional service and competitive pricing.

Let our Ingredients be your Solutions.

Jarvis Products Corporation is the world's largest producer of meat and poultry processing equipment. The company manufactures specialized machinery for the meat processing industry, especially in the field of meat cutting and boning machinery, band saws, slaughter equipment, carcass opening and splitting saws, hock cutters, and skinning machines. Jarvis’ product line is sold and serviced worldwide through 16 Jarvis branch locations, and Jarvis' J26 Federation of Distributors. Jarvis has service technicians available providing free customer service, including equipment installation, service calls and employee training.

Jungbunzlauer is one of the world's leading producers of biodegradable ingredients of natural origin. We enable our customers to manufacture healthier, safer, tastier and more sustainable products. Due to continuous investments, state-of-the-art manufacturing processes and comprehensive quality management, we are able to assure outstanding product quality. Our mission "From nature to ingredients®" commits us to the protection of people and their environment.

The Linde food team is achieving dramatic increases in throughput, yield and productivity by customizing state-of-the-art chilling/freezing solutions to meet specific process and plant requirements. Learn more about these and other cryogenic solutions at the show, and talk to the Linde experts about your production challenges: The patented Linde Impingement Freezer.

The Linde Immersion-Spiral Freezer.

ACCU-CHILL® Combo-Chiller.

Multisorb Technologies delivers proven, optimized active packaging solutions to extend the shelf life of fresh and processed meat products. Multisorb has developed sorbents in a variety of formats, including packets, card stock, or self-adhesive backed. All of the formats will retain meat’s colors and flavors, prevent rancidity of oils and fats, inhibit the growth of aerobic pathogens, and allow you to use little to no preservatives – all while extending shelf life and increasing customer satisfaction.

A world renowned authority in packaging machinery, MULTIVAC has provided countless packaging solutions across a host of industries and applications. In our 50+ year history, we have designed and implemented over 30,000 automated packaging systems globally. MULTIVAC leads the market with innovative packaging solutions, strategic consultation, technical design and exceptional service. We call it "Better Packaging" but our customers simply call it "success"

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IPPE

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Top five turkey consuming countries, 2012 PolyConversions Both: B-7671

POSS Design Booth: B-7115 Prime Equipment Booth: B-7147

Reiser Booth: B-6247

Provisur Booth: B-4608 Stober Booth: B-7347 Tomra Booth: B-8137

Urschel Booth: B-4939

Wolf Tec Booth: B-6733

www.meatpacking.info

PolyConversions Inc. prides itself on providing food processing and industrial/safety professionals with unsurpassed value and the highest quality products made only in America. PolyCo also cares about our environment. Approved for direct food contact according to the USDA & FDA’s Code of Federal Regulations, PolyCo’s VR(vinyl replacement) Protective Wear solution’s contain no toxic substances or plasticizers and can be safely recycled, land filled or incinerated, with no harm to the environment. The 2015 IPPE PolyCo booth will be located at the Georgia World Congress Center, Hall B Booth #7671. Be sure to make your way over and introduce yourself to the PolyCo representatives for your personal protection apparel questions. If you are unable to stop over, please feel free to contact the PolyCo offices at your convenience or observe the website at www.polycousa.com.

POSS Design Limited is the leading manufacturer of high quality single-step separating equipment. Offering machines ranging from 500 to 35,000+ input lbs per hour POSS will provide a high yield, low temperature rise, labor saving solution to your processing needs.

With over 35 years of experience POSS can help design your perfect separation solution. Call us today at1.888.766.7677 or +1-905-829-1077.www.poss-separators.com Visit Prime Equipment Group and see how our wide-ranging poultry processing solutions are designed to improve yields and efficiencies throughout exiting lines—or we can outfit your plant from the ground up. We are a U.S.A.-based manufacturer of poultry processing equipment that has earned over more than two decades the trust of the industry by supplying innovative, reliable and hard-working solutions for nearly every point on the modern processing line. Visit us at www.PrimeEquipmentGroup.com and at booth 7147 and: Wing Segmentor upgrades to increase A-Grades See Neck & Shoulder Skinners that replace croppers Learn How we’re re-engineering the FoodCraft line How new cone line processes boost efficiency Discover A Keel Harvester™ that produces new profits

A Paw Pad system that increases A-Grades Reiser will demonstrate its Vemag Gourmet Patty Forming System for high-speed production of poultry, hamburger and sausage patties with a "homemade" look. This system features a Vemag HP30E with a Vemag FM250 patty former, a Vemag ProcessCheck checkweigher, and an interleaver. The FM250’s high-speed servo cutter and integrated low-pressure former produce burgers that have a homemade look and a tender bite. The ProcessCheck automatically monitors weights and adjusts the Vemag for perfect portions – with no operator intervention. Reiser will also demonstrate the Vemag LPG208 High-Speed Length Portioning Machine – the fastest and most versatile sausage linker in the industry. The LPG208 features two rotating linking horns to significantly reduce casing change times and dramatically increase production. The automatic two-horn system eliminates the downtime found in the start-and-stop casing loading process of single-horn machines.

Provisur® Technologies, Inc., with a family of proven brands, AM2C®, Beehive®, Cashin®, Formax®, Multitec™, TST™and Weiler® offers a complete platform for food processing equipment, including integrated systems, grinding, mixing, separating, forming, coating, cooking, freezing, slicing and autoloading equipment for processing beef, poultry, pork, fish, and other food products. For more information, visit provisur.com.

STOBER Drives produces the highest quality gearboxes in the world. With over eighty years of gearing experience, you can trust a solution from STOBER. Our products are backed by a three year standard warranty and are IP69K certified. STOBER gear reducers can withstand the harshest washdown environments. The best employees and products help us be "geared to a higher standard." Visit us at www.stober.com to learn more.

TOMRA Sorting provides analytical and sorting solutions for the meat industry. In addition to a dedicated fat, protein and moisture analyser in meat, the company also offer solutions for detection of foreign materials, such as plastic and bone.

The QVision fat analysis machine allows production facilities to provide consistent product quality and raw material control. This simplifies daily operation and brings large savings by increasing profitability. A typical applications for fat analysis is blending of ground and diced meat.

The rugged high capacity M6 cleanly delivers strips, dices, or shreds. The dependable, stainless steel M6 Dicer processes frozen-tempered, fresh-chilled, or hot-cooked meats to satisfy a wide range of applications. The M6 offers a clean, overall stainless steel design and hinged access panels to diminish sanitation time. The machine is available with a single-speed or multi-speed motor in 5 or 7.5 HP. The dependable M6 delivers consistent, precise dices, strips, or shreds at industrial-level capacities.

Wolf-tec will highlight its latest range of Injection, Marination and Whole muscle processing equipment including, Polar Dissolver Brine preparation systems, Schroder IMAX injectors, Polar Massagers with automated vacuum loading, its revolutionary Polar Flexcarve intelligent macerator. Also featured are meat cutting and portioning systems from TVI with automatic tray loading. For more than 37 years, meat & poultry processors from around the world have relied on Wolf-tec to deliver better equipment and smarter solutions.

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IPPE

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all under one roof IPPE features a full range of industry equipment on show: Animal health and sanitation products Cutting and boning Environmental systems Facility design General packinghouse equipment Logistics and process control programs & equipment Packaging equipment and supplies Processing equipment Quality control Sanitation Seasonings, ingredients and additives Slaughtering equipment Temperature control Transportation and storage services IPPE features a wide variety of educational workshops, including translated sessions. You will find a focus on food safety, plant operations, sustainability and other hot industry topics:

venue Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

show times Tuesday, 27 January: 10am ~ 5pm Wednesday, 28 January: 9am ~ 5pm Thursday, 29 January: 9am ~ 3pm

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Animal ag sustainability summit Beef plant tour Consumer trends Dietary guidelines update International poultry scientific forum International rendering symposium Pet food conference Poultry Market intelligence forum Poultry: Microbial control in 2nd processing Sanitary design for raw/fresh Swine production & processing: An international perspective Consumer trends & best new products Food safety sessions on validation, PEDv and antibiotic use

www.meatpacking.info

e v en t s

2015 27 - 29 January International Production & Processing Expo Atlanta, US www.ippexpo.com 22 - 24 February AmericaPack Summit Las Vegas, NV www.americapacksummit. marcusevans-summits.com/ 14 - 16 March Food Expo Greece Athens, Greece www.foodexpo.gr 4 - 6 May International Meat Industry Exhibition Qingdao, China http://www.chinaexhibition.com 19 - 23 May Meat-Tech Milan, Italy www.meat-tech.it 14 - 15 September EuroPack Summit Cascais, Portugal www.europacksummit.com 15 - 18 September Process Expo Chicago, US www.myprocessexpo.com 5 - 9 October Agroprodmash Moscow, Russia www.agroprodmash-expo.ru 22 - 24 october International Meat, Meat Products & Equipment Exhibition Shanghai, China http://www.chinaexhibition.com

www.meatpacking.info

January~February 2015 | Meat Packing Journal | 65

C O n tac t s

reby media Reby House

Rhian Owen

James Chappelow

Velo Mitrovich

Editorial

Sales

Velo Mitrovich

Jim Robertson

Editor +44 1442 780 591 velo@meatpacking.info

James Chappelow

Technical Editor james@meatpacking.info Reporters

Alex Conacher

alex@meatpacking.info

Tom Burnett

tburnett@meatpacking.info

Ruth Tomlin

Head of Sales +44 1442 780 593 jim@meatpacking.info

Josh Henderson

Accounts Manager +44 1442 780 594 josh@meatpacking.info

Ruth Tomlin

Subscription Sales +44 1442 780 594 ruth@meatpacking.info

Executive Jack Young

Publisher +44 1442 780 593 jack@meatpacking.info

Rhian Owen

Group Editor +44 1442 780 592 rhian@meatpacking.info

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage or retrieval system, without the express prior written consent of the publisher.

Meat Packing Journal ISSN 2054-4677 is published bimonthly by Reby Media, 42 Crouchfield, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, HP1 1PA. Subscription records are maintained at Reby Media, 42 Crouchfield, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, HP1 1PA. Meat Packing Journal and its Editorial Board accept no responsibility for the accuracy of statements or opinion given within the Journal that is not the expressly designated opinion of the Journal or its Editorial Board. Those opinions expressed in areas other than editorial comment may not be taken as being the opinion of the Journal or its staff, and the aforementioned accept no responsibility or liability for actions that arise therefrom.

66 | Meat Packing Journal | January~February 2015

Josh Henderson

42 Crouchfield Hemel Hempstead Hertfordshire HP1 1PA Great Britain info@rebymedia.com

SUBscriptions Meat Packing Journal is a bimonthly magazine mailed every January, March, May, July, September and November. Subscriptions can be purchased for six or 12 issues. Prices for single issue subscriptions or back issues can be obtained by emailing: subscriptions@meatpacking.info

Europe One year: â‚Ź119, two year: â‚Ź199 North America One year: $169, two year: $279 Rest of the world One year: $199, two year: $299 The content of Meat Packing Journal is subject to copyright. However, if you would like to obtain copies of an article for marketing purposes high-quality reprints can be supplied to your specification. Please contact the advertising team for full details of this service. Meat Packing Journal is printed at Buxton Press Ltd, Derbyshire, UK.

Editorial advisory board Meat Packing Journal is advised and guided by an editorial advisory board formed of leading professionals and researchers

Jorge Ruiz Carrascal University of Copenhagen Fred W. Pohlman University of Arkansas Ian Richardson University of Bristol Graeme Rolinson Marel

www.meatpacking.info

AMERICAPACK SUMMIT

February 23-24, 2015 | Red Rock Resort & Spa | Las Vegas, NV

KEY TOPICS •

The Power of the Pack – Challenging design and material fundamentals to become a true packaging revolutionary

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Brand Partners – Activating customer engagement and strengthening the brandconsumer relationship to increase added value through packaging

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A Balancing Act – Perfectly balancing customer satisfaction and cost efficiency by implementing holistic innovation tactics

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Cultivating Legacy – Engaging stakeholders in driving sustainable initiatives and winning customers by empowering environmentally-positive consumption

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Taking Centre Stage – Creating packaging design with diverse demographic market appeal to elevate shelf standout

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Well Oiled Machine – Nurturing consistent interdepartmental communication and strategy to grease the synergistic gears of the supply chain cycle and master exceptional packaging

NETWORK WITH INDUSTRY EXPERTS LIKE Craig Dubitsky, CEO, Hello Products; Moira Cullen, VP Global Beverage Design, PepsiCo; Sriman Banerjee, Head Packaging Development Wellness Category, GlaxoSmithKline; Switlana Wojcickyj, Senior R&D Director, Dannon; Rickard McNabb, Global Design Director-Personal Care, Unilever

YOUR KEY BENEFITS •

Optimize your time – Presentations, case studies and interactive forums that provoke your creativity, and offer superior knowledge and practical insights

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One-on-One business meetings – A chance to get the latest updates on solutions from companies servicing your industry

•

Grow your network – Engage in unparalleled networking opportunities

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Access the secured summit website – Review premium summit content post event

•

Exquisite environment – Enjoy the surroundings conducive to knowledge sharing

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT Kevin Dickey at kevindi@marcusevansch.com or tel: 312-540-3000 ext 6615

The event provided an excellent interactive forum to understand status quo of packaging industry. The overall organization is very dynamic with a good balanced of one to one sessions and keynote presentations.

Global Packaging Manager, Unilever

The Banss Cattle Restrainer For Your Next Project Contact Us at:

BANSS America Corporation 7680 Universal Blvd, Suite 380, Orlando, FL 32819 Tel: (407) 930-3554 | Fax: (407) 930-3558 Email: info@banss.de | BanssAmerica.com

Banss America Corp is a wholly owned subsidiary of Banss Germany GmbH