Bacon is experiencing growth and diversity across all menu areas and mealtimes during the past year, including dessert and beverage offerings.

When looking at shelf-life extending ingredients used for meat processing, many ingredients provide multiple functions.

Several common methods for maintaining employee cleanliness exist. One crucial method is that processors have easily accessible and common locations for handwashing and as well as donning and doffing PPE.

As with the rest of the food industry, meat and poultry processors are actively exploring ingredient technologies to reduce sodium in their products due to consumers’ more healthful eating desires.

A continued emphasis around fresh foods at lunchtime and throughout the day is a big reason why salads, which could be made with or without meat, are the No. 1 growing item at lunchtime.

When Sierra Meat and Seafood recently went looking for new grinding equipment, the company needed it to be easy to operate and very reliable.

Consumer interest in natural and clean label is resulting in the growth of natural preservatives and environmentally friendly technologies.

Freezing and chilling systems, rooms and facilities continue to advance, as do the quality, sustainability and eco-conscious goals for most processors in this arena.

Overall sales of poultry were down less than 1 percent in 2016 from 2015 because of a decline in poultry prices as well as total volume of poultry sold, according to Chicago-based Mintel International’s Poultry U.S. report, published in November 2016.