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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. 

With the Presidential election behind us, the new Biden Administration continues to fill key food safety and policy positions within USDA and FDA. To date, however, we have not yet witnessed the rollout of any significant new food safety or regulatory policy announcements. 

In the food processing industry, there are many different applications in which oils are used or produced that end up in the wastewater stream. In applications where meat is cooked, fat and grease render out and collect in grease traps. Even the routine washdown of processing equipment surfaces can create a mixture of oily water. 

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the greatest transformation to employee apparel is the adoption of masks.

Employment at U.S. meat, beef and poultry processing plants currently stands around 500,000 and is expected to grow 0.4 percent by the end of 2021, according to Meat, Beef and Poultry Processing Industry in the U.S.,” a September 2020 market research report from IBISWorld. 

Microbiome research is an area of increasing interest in livestock production due to potential microbiome impacts on animal performance. The term microbiome, while scientifically rooted in the genetic makeup of the microbes, is used to more generally represent the microbial populations that are present in an environment. 

COVID-19 isn’t the only thing I would have liked to leave behind in 2020. Animal-rights activist attacks also rise to the top of my list. Animal-rights activists never miss an opportunity to kick animal agriculture when its down, and the Coronavirus pandemic was no exception. 

On Jan. 25, 2021, a coalition of food safety activist groups and individuals led by Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) petitioned the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) to significantly change course on its approach to regulating Salmonella and Campylobacter.

As a food industry lawyer, I like to closely track recalls of U.S. Department of Agriculture-regulated products. Each year, I watch with interest (and, sometimes, bewilderment) as a continuous stream of recalls float by. The reasons for recalls can vary wildly, involving issues ranging from the unavoidable presence of pathogens to the very avoidable presence of hydraulic fluid.