The top challenge of forming quality processed meat products is temperature.

As with the entire food industry, whole-muscle processors face the challenge now of feeding an increasing number of people regardless of population growth projections.

Antimicrobial and antioxidant seasonings and spices that are particularly growing in the meat and poultry industry are ones that appeal to consumers' cleaner label concerns.

It may come as little surprise to those in the meat and poultry industries, but barbecue, and everything that goes with it, is hot right now, with no signs of cooling off.

While phosphates offer many benefits to meat and poultry products, the ingredient is not a clean-label one. The growth of clean-label, natural and organic meat and poultry products is leading to a decrease in the use of phosphates.

With a continued growing economy and employment environment, demand for chicken and competing meats will most likely see 2018 build on the success experienced in 2017, says Tom Super, senior vice president of communications for the National Chicken Council (NCC), Washington, D.C.

Antimicrobial dips and sprays are an integral part of a strong food safety system. They benefit not only in bacterial reduction and suppression, but also improve the shelf life of products.

In a wide embrace of technology, vision systems are being used throughout the entire process by meat and poultry processors.

Faster PCR methods, better culture methods, more selective enrichment methods and quantitative biosensor methods all have advance the field of rapid pathogen testing recently.