“Your knives are your paintbrush, your sculpting tool,” says Kari Underly, principal, Range Meat Academy, based in Chicago. Their medium may be different, but butchers also use handheld tools like artists to bring shape to an undefined surface. 

Back in 2014, the Animal Sciences Department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison began to ponder the question: How do we teach meat science in the future? What will a classroom look like, and how will students get the best education possible? 

Fortress Technology examines the different factors that are accelerating the need for smarter systems, and how intelligent inspection equipment is helping to usher in a new era of food safety. 

The advancements in weighing and labeling technologies haven’t been all that phenomenal in the recent past, according to one processor. 

The latest sanitation tools for meat and poultry have familiar names but, more importantly, increased interest.

Maximizing yield in the processing of meat and poultry is crucial for boosting operator revenues. While such factors as the amount of external carcass fat, carcass muscularity and aging all affect yield, mastering superior cutting equipment and techniques is crucial for getting the most product from an animal, analysts say.

Connective tissue sheaths serve as the scaffolds in skeletal muscle, and they allow for the growth and development of muscle tissue. However, these connective tissues also cause the “background toughness” in meat. 

Why is it that, despite the best efforts of management teams, the vast majority of spare parts inventories remain bloated with excess, surplus and obsolete items yet don’t provide the level of service expected by users?

Organic agriculture — considered by some to be a niche and/or fad some 30 years ago — continues to grow in the United States, and the sheer number of organic products found in retail and foodservice outlets offers anecdotal evidence.