While processors are expecting new guidance on cooling, implementation of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service’s (FSIS) revised Appendix A and B published in 2017 has been delayed. Instead, processors have been allowed to revert back to the 1999 versions.
Leveraging the best freezing and chilling technologies can enable meat and poultry processors to enhance operations, but equipment capabilities must keep pace with expanding volumes for maximum benefit.
Keeping meat and poultry fresh and safe during its journey from the ranch to the plate is often an intricate undertaking for processors. And few variables are as important for sustaining product quality as leveraging appropriate freezing and chilling technologies.
Quickly freezing proteins during production leads to greater product quality and appearance and reductions in waste. Yet the inability of many processors to leverage the optimal technologies remains a major operational obstacle, analysts say.
In the U.S., water immersion chilling (WC) is commonly used to chill poultry while other regions of the world, such as the European Union (E.U.), prefer air chilling (AC).
At the mixer or blender, chilling may appear under control, but minor variations can creep in that may go unnoticed or unaddressed, adding unnecessary costs to your bottom line.
Leveraging cutting-edge technologies for chilling and freezing is essential for enhancing meat and poultry revenues and food safety, but operators must first sidestep implementation obstacles.
Meat and poultry processors that underestimate the importance of investing in state-of-the-art chilling and freezing technologies and systems are set to feel the cold.