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Background: Meatpacking is dirty, dangerous, and demanding work. In the United States, the industry predominately employs people from racial/ethnic minority backgrounds and immigrants, with 45% of the workforce identifying as Hispanic/Latino. Little is known about how the work environment affects worker engagement in health-promoting activities; however, occupational health professionals are uniquely positioned to advance worker health, safety, and general well-being. Methods: Hispanic/Latino meatpacking workers with work-related musculoskeletal pain and active health concerns were recruited to participate in a study to explore health, health behaviors, and the work environment. Five focus groups ( N = 28) were conducted in Nebraska between March 2019 and February 2020. Thematic analysis using the Health Belief Model constructs was used to explain workers’ health behaviors including utilization of occupational health services at their workplace. Findings: Workers believed that there was little they could do to prevent and treat health problems. They understood the perceived threat of health problems and the benefits of self-care, but the perceived barriers often outweighed the benefits. The workplace had few prompts to motivate or incentivize self-care both in and outside of work. In addition, workers did not trust the occupational health office and saw few benefits to accessing services. Together, these conditions resulted in low self-efficacy and limited engagement in health-promoting behaviors. Conclusion/Application to practice: Occupational health professionals should promote Total Worker Health and foster trust by providing culturally, linguistically, and literacy appropriate services and by identifying opportunities and reducing barriers for workers to engage in activities to promote their health, safety, and well-being.

The article describes the problems in assessing the safety of raw materials in the meat processing industry and ways to solve these problems. The issue raised is important from the industrial safety point of view. The purpose of the article is to analyze biological hazards as an element of the procedure of checking the criterion of the examination’s effectiveness when accepting raw meat at a meat processing plant. Subject of research: raw meat accepted at the meat processing plant, "decision tree" at the stage of raw meat acceptance, initial and residual proteolytic microflora, control-critical points of veterinary-sanitary expertise. Materials and methods. General scientific methods of cognition are applied: analysis, synthesis, abstraction, deduction. For the study and comprehensive analysis of its object monographic, as well as a special method of research, an abstract-logical one, are used. In the course of performance of the work, microbiological methods of research are used: microscopy of preparations, inoculation on nutrient media. The information base of the research consists of the legislative and regulatory acts of Ukraine and the Regulations of the European Union in force, Codex Alimentarius standards, scientific works of domestic and foreign scientists, the authors' own observations .Results of research. The research was conducted in the laboratory of Lityn Meat-Packing Plant, in Vinnytsia Region. Identified hazards found at the stage of acceptance of raw materials are controlled by veterinary examination, namely the points of veterinary and sanitary control. Examination of raw materials takes into account the control of biological, chemical and physical factors in obtaining raw materials, purchase and processing, preparation for production, distribution, sale and consumption of the finished product. In the conditions of the enterprise LLC Lityn Meat-Packing Plant the procedure of identification of dangerous factors at the stage of acceptance of raw meat was carried out and 4 control points were established. Scope: the results of the study are recommended for use in meat processing enterprises.

The industry sector accounts for nearly a quarter of the total global final energy and heat makes up two-thirds of that parcel. Sectors such as food & drinks, steel, cement,ceramic and glass, among others represent a considerable part of the energy consumption thought their predominant electric consumption and thermal processes. The meat production industry corresponds to the food & drink industry one of the most representative manufacturing industry in terms of sales turnover and energy use in the European Union. Such is associated to considerable environmental impacts, namely on emissions of equivalent carbon dioxide (CO2eq). Within this sector, the main energy demanding systems arerefrigeration systemsand steam boilers, with the former being responsible for a great electric energy use within a meat production plant. In order to reduce the CO2eqemissions in an industrial plan and so to contribute to the promotion of industrial eco-efficiency, several improvement measures are proposed, which for instance include energy efficiency improvement measures (waste heat recovery technologies and strategies and cooling improvements), renewable energy integration (solar water heating systems and concentrated solar power) and alternative fuel integration (biomass andbiogasfuel integration). The paper presents the development of a framework for the assessment of eco-efficiency improvements widely applicable, namely to manufacturing industries. It has been applied to a case study —meat processing industry and the results have shown an increase of the eco-efficiency indicator up to 8.1% for theenergy efficiency measures, up to 22.7% for the renewable energy integration and 10.3% for alternative fuel integration. The research progresses subsist on characterisation of energykey performance indicators(KPI), improvement barriers, improvement of electric energy use inrefrigeration components,optimisationof carcass chilling processes, waste heat recovery and integration of renewable energy, alternative fuels and waste-to-energy technologies. A still existing gap is identified in respect to the benefits and correlation of the main improvement measures for manufacturing industries in the improvement of the eco-efficiency indicator.

PurposeFood supply chain theory and practice generally assumes that the business practices and processes involved are ethical, legal and value-adding when this is not always so, as demonstrated by the ongoing 2013 horse-meat scandal. Although it is ostensibly a UK-based affair, it encompasses the meat processing industry across Europe. This study, thus, aims to examine supply chain criminality and to highlight “scandal scripts” which amplify underlying issues.Design/methodology/approachA systematic review of extant literature on the scandal adds to that body of work, updating the existing narrative to include a detailed analysis of convicted “industry insiders”, highlighting supply chain issues involved in the frauds. Micro-stories of businessmen involved are presented to enable an empirical exploration of their illegal involvement in the meat trade. Using storied data from accounts of the scandal as contemporary examples, emerging themes and issues are outlined through a mixed methods qualitative approach consisting of ethical covert research, using documentary research strategy underpinned by narrative inquiry.FindingsMedia coverage perpetuated various myths notably that the fraud was carried out by “shadowy”, Eastern European “mafia figures” exploiting the extended food supply chains. The analysis is aided by the use of media hypothesis. Far from being a mafia-inspired fraud, the criminal activity was organised in nature and committed by insider businessmen. The findings demonstrate that supply chains are complex and require an understanding of storied business practices, including the ethical and illegal.Research limitations/implicationsFrom an academic perspective, there are implications such as the dearth of academic research and policy-related studies into food fraud possibly because of the difficulty in obtaining data because of access to such enterprises and entrepreneurs necessitating reliance upon documentary sources and investigative journalism.Practical implicationsThere are distinct policy implications, particularly the need to legislate against international criminal conspiracies and everyday ordinary organised food frauds perpetuated. Lax penalties do little to prevent such crimes which need to be taken more seriously by the authorities, and treated as major crime. In formulating food laws, rules and regulations, greater cognisance should be taken to consider how supply chains in the food industry could be better protected from predatory criminal actions.Originality/valueThis novel qualitative study will enable academics and practitioners to better understand illegal enterprise, food fraud and risk management from both operational and supply chain perspectives and will be useful to investigators by furthering our understanding of entrepreneurial practice and morality in the food industry.

Aim. The presented study aims to substantiate the strategic role of B2B e-commerce tools for agro-industrial holdings in the Russian meat industry.Tasks.The authors identify global and national trends and patterns that increase the importance of e-commerce in the exchange of goods between companies; determine the role of B2B e-commerce tools in the strategic management systems of agro-industrial holdings; illustrate the strategic importance of B2B e-commerce tools for the development of agro-industrial holdings.Methods.This study uses the theory of strategy and the strategizing methodology developed by foreign member of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), PhD in Economics, Professor V.L. Kvint to evaluate the role of B2B e-commerce tools in the strategies of agro-industrial holdings in the Russian meat industry. The positive effect of these tools on the population’s quality of life is highlighted as the main reference point of any strategy.Results. Global trends in the fields of robotics, digitalization, and global epidemics are increasing the importance of e-commerce, including in the meat industry, where agro-industrial holdings have a high potential to take leading positions. The urgency of seizing this opportunity is emphasized by the complex economic, political, and epidemiological situation that dictates the need for the strategic modernization of business. The theory of strategy and the strategizing methodology developed by V.L. Kvint define innovation as a source of strategic advantage. When considered from the perspective of Schumpeter’s concept of new combinations, B2B e-commerce tools can serve the purpose of reorganizing and developing a new sales market, making it possible to accelerate turnover with partners, increase the speed of demand analysis and sales management, optimize a number of key business processes, provide a flexible pricing policy, improve the image of enterprises, and create a strategic supply of demand for emergency periods.Conclusions. The introduction and use of B2B e-commerce tools can provide a number of competitive advantages for agro-industrial holdings, increasing their sustainability during emergency periods and improving the physical and economic accessibility of meat products to consumers.

Background Carcass evaluation is a key process to ascertain the value and the quality characteristics of the animal at slaughter. In addition to being the base for monetary transactions between livestock producers and meat processors, in some countries, this evaluation also helps to determine the market allocation of cuts. Recent advances in non-invasive techniques are being tested for their potential to improve classification and grading systems in the meat industry. Scope and approach In this review, global grading and classification practices for pig, sheep and beef carcasses are discussed along with the latest technological developments in objective carcass measurement. We discuss a number of studies predicting marketable attributes such as yield (lean and saleable meat yield), eating quality attributes (inter- and intra-muscular fat, meat and fat colour) and carcass dimensions (skeletal structure, ribeye area). Technologies based on x-ray, nuclear magnetic resonance, video image analysis, ultrasound, bioelectric impedance and spectroscopy are discussed, along with recent developments and their possible future adoption. Key findings and conclusions Dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry and magnetic induction technologies have been commercialised for the sheep and pig industries, respectively. X-ray technologies and updates in video image analysis could go beyond grading to improve yield and cut dimension predictions. Some technologies could improve process efficiencies through cut sorting and enabling robotic cutting, while also enabling improved value-based payment systems. However, there are challenges associated with their implementation in meat processing plants and further research and development is required in some areas.

The object of research is meat processing enterprises on the example of Ukraine.One of the most problematic areas is the reduction in total beef and pork production.This negatively affects the development of the industry, which loses the opportunity to develop, create new jobs, enter the international market. In the course of the study, general scientific and special methods were used. For example, the monographic method, methods of statistical grouping and correlation-regression analysis, as well as the graphical method were used to comprehensively study the current state of meat production. The grouping method was used to determine the influence of various factors on the level of efficiency in the production of different types of meat, and the comparison method was used to carry out a comparative analysis of the production of meat products in different time periods. It is shown that in the general structure of agricultural production livestock products during 2015–2019 ranged from 24.1 to 20.9% of the total. The largest percentage in this structure was occupied by breeding farm animals.The smallest share in this production is occupied by beef and veal. And its production continues to fall. Negative dynamics was also observed in pork production. The production of sausages is relatively stable. The largest volumes of production were provided by chicken. The Ukrainian market of meat and meat products is closely connected with the development of raw materials for the industry. The total number of farm animals by farm category is declining, excluding poultry. The wholesale turnover of meat and meat wholesalers has been growing every year. Raw material production and processing are closely interrelated. Today, it is extremely important to reconcile the interests of producers and processors so that the market is predictable, has a defined development strategy, focused on increasing domestic consumption and to realize the export potential of the meat industry.

Canada's unemployment rate increased rapidly in the spring of 2020 in response to strict public health measures. Low‐wage workers were hit particularly hard, including restaurant workers. The production and distribution of food being essential and agri‐food supply chains being resilient, other workers in the agri‐food sector were less impacted by public health measures and the pandemic. Employment in grocery stores remained steady and employment of agricultural workers, including temporary foreign workers, proved more robust than expected. Dealing with contaminated workers proved challenging in meat processing plants. Temporary plant shutdowns and slowdowns created livestock queuing problems and temporary increases in meat prices. The federal and provincial governments implemented several programs to mitigate the pandemic's adverse effects on labor markets. The pandemic will have permanent effect on labor markets, but with unemployment rates falling rapidly across Canada, recruiting and retention remain the main labor issues in agriculture.

Nitrate and nitrite salts are important food additives that improve quality, safety and shelf life of meat products. Although their use is regulated, the concern about the use of E-number additives have been pushing researchers and professionals of the meat industry for alternative strategies to ‘clean’ the label of meat products produced with nitrate and/or nitrite salts. Natural extracts from cruciferous vegetables is an interesting strategy to overcome this challenge due to their high nitrate content. This review aims to discuss the main sources of nitrates among cruciferous vegetables and also their technological as natural additives in the production of cured meat products.

Health concerns have motivated salt reduction on diverse foods. Salt in processed meat usually reach high levels, and its reduction is not an easy task, due to its preservative action and expected sensory characteristics in them. Meat industry is looking for alternative solutions for both salt reduction and replacement. The curing time needed to reach the required salt content in meat products can be reduced by the application of ultrasound. Ultrasound technology has been applied for brining, marinating, tumbling, and cooking, with promising results as a useful strategy to reduce the salt content in meat products, such as dry-cured ham, bacon and chicken breast. However, ultrasound parameters should be optimized for each meat product, because structure and composition are diverse among products and the US effects be different. The purpose of this review is to highlight and summarize recent studies on ultrasound application to obtain low salt meat products.

Background Livers, by-products from animal processing, serve as an excellent source of high-quality protein and bioactive enzymes. The need for animal protein resources encourages the search for and use of unconventional supplies. However, animal livers are commonly sold unprocessed at a low price since their unique properties and high-value utilization have not been fully explored. Fully use of animal livers provides an opportunity to utilize existing resources of food protein to the utmost and reduce the environmental pollution from the meat production when these raw materials not properly processed. Scope and application Efficient and environmentally-friendly extraction of liver protein and its hydrolysates, biological activities and potential applications are reviewed in this contribution. In addition, value-added utilization of liver protein and its hydrolysates are discussed. Furthermore, certain liver proteins, bioactive enzymatic hydrolysates and natural enzymes, as well as their potential utilization in agriculture, food, and medicine are evaluated. Key finding and conclusions: Innovative technologies guarantee effective conversion of animal processing by-products into biologically active protein hydrolysates and procurement of high activity proteases. Animal liver protein and its hydrolysates have attracted much interest due to their broad applications in food, healthcare, animal feed and veterinary products. However, there is a need for intensive research on biological activity of liver protein and its hydrolysates in organism as well as on the regulation in animal by-products. Therefore, liver protein and its hydrolysates produced at industrial level would offer a value-added product for meat processing industry, and helps achieving resource sustainability.

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has severely impacted the meat processing industry in the United States. We sought to detail demographics and outcomes of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infections among workers in Nebraska meat processing facilities and determine the effects of initiating universal mask policies and installing physical barriers at 13 meat processing facilities. During April 1–July 31, 2020, COVID-19 was diagnosed in 5,002 Nebraska meat processing workers (attack rate 19%). After initiating both universal masking and physical barrier interventions, 8/13 facilities showed a statistically significant reduction in COVID-19 incidence in

The properties associated with NaCl make it a widely used preservative in the meat industry. However, the growing concern of consumers for their health, and the recommendations of international organizations, force the reformulation of meat products, reducing the salt contents and therefore, giving rise to healthier products. This leads to the search for alternatives that allow to reduce salt content in the product without modifying its technological and sensory properties. In this regard, the replacement by metallic salts is the most common strategy. Recently, its combination with the application of emerging technologies is being evaluated to obtain low-sodium meat products of high quality.

Aim of the article. Identification of objective patterns and trends that directly or indirectly influenced the development of the Russian meat industry in accordance with the methodology of the General theory of strategizing by Vladimir Kvint.Materials and Methods. The research is based on the materials of scientific papers relevant to the topic of the article, as well as on statistical information from official and open sources. Systematization of information is carried out by applying the General theory of strategizing, economic and statistical analysis, comparative analysis, generalization and interpretation of the results obtained.Results. The presented materials are used to analyze the current state of the industry and the formation of strategic trends.Conclusions. Based on the analysis, conclusions are drawn about a number of strategic trends that determine the further development of the meat industry in Russia.

The results of patent research in the field of processing secondary resources of meat processing enterprises are presented and analyzed. Justified, the problem of rational processing of secondary resources and indicated the leading role of modern high technologies in the implementation of tasks for deep processing of the main secondary resources (blood, bone of animals for slaughter, etc.). The increased patent activity of major patent holders. Inventions on the use of the principles of biotechnology and economical extrusion processing methods are presented. There is an increase in the interest of researchers in the complex processing of secondary resources that allow, for example, processing blood, meat and bone waste, intestines and other biological waste from slaughterhouses to obtain a wide range of biologically active substances, pharmaceutical, veterinary drugs, and feed. There is an increase in research aimed at processing secondary resources generated during poultry slaughter, which may be associated with the intensification of production in this industry.

The analysis of the results of epizootic investigations carried out in the foci of foot and mouth disease and data from the study of the role of meat, meat products, meat processing waste and non-neutralized kitchen waste in the spread of the foot and mouth disease virus in a number of European countries (England, Belgium, Greece, Italy, Germany and Switzerland), the Soviet Union (Kyrgyz SSR, Latvian SSR, Magadan, Sakhalin, Leningrad and Kamchatka regions), Russian Federation (1995). Outbreaks of foot and mouth disease in Mongolia in February - March were caused by the transport of susceptible animals infected with foot and mouth disease virus and their slaughter products on the eve of the religious New Year holiday [1, 10]. Recently, the Russian Federation is free from foot and mouth disease. However, cases of the introduction of the FMD virus from neighboring countries unfavorable for this infection are recorded [8]. The greatest danger is posed by meat obtained from the slaughter of animals during the incubation period, as well as from vaccinated cattle infected with the FMD virus [2830]. The article presents the results of the indication of the FMD virus in samples from different organs and tissues infected with the FMD virus of animals. Information about the modes of disinfection of meat and meat products is presented.

Context Chemical lean (CL) is an important metric used by the Australian meat industry to describe fat content of meat product. It is a minimum meat specification included in contracts between Australian vendors of bulk packed boneless manufacturing meat and overseas or domestic buyers and can be regarded as the complement of chemically determined fat in meat (% fat, CL = 100-% fat). The microwave moisture method is commonly used for measuring CL content of meat in Australian abattoirs, relying on a relationship between CL and moisture content of boneless meat. It is regarded as a quick and easy method to use. More recently, newer methods for moisture analysis have become available which may also be suitable for CL determination, including commercial halogen moisture analysers (HMAs). HMAs use a halogen lamp as a source of infrared radiation that is absorbed by a sample, which then results in moisture loss. Aims This study aimed to compare the use of HMAs for CL determination of beef and lamb to that obtained from Soxhlet extraction technique, which is the AOAC Final Action Method for determining fat in meat and accepted as the reference method for fat determination. Additionally, the study sought to validate the use of HMAs as a method for CL determination in the Australian meat industry. Methods HMAs were used to determine the moisture content of six beef and one lamb samples, which were used to calculate the CL content. The fat content of the samples was also determined using Soxhlet fat extraction. Passing-Bablok regression and Bland-Altman plot analysis were used to identify any differences and bias between the methods, respectively. Key results Passing-Bablok regression showed that there was no difference between methods, while Bland-Altman plot analysis indicated no bias was evident between the methods. While some differences were apparent between approaches either due to using moisture as a proxy for fat/CL compared with continual solvent extraction or sample heterogeneity, sufficient agreement existed between results to lie within an acceptance criterion of 1.2 CL units. Conclusion The use of HMAs was substantiated as a method for CL determination in the Australian meat industry and has been accredited by AUS-MEAT Ltd as a method for boneless beef and lamb. Implications HMAs can be used in the Australian meat industry for CL determination and represent a relatively simpler and easier approach for this important industry metric.

International audience; Cultured meat involves producing meat from animal cells, not from slaughtered animals. This innovation has the potential to revolutionize the meat industry, with wide implications for the environment, health and animal welfare. The main purpose of this paper is to stimulate some economic research on cultured meat. In particular, this paper includes a prospective discussion on the demand and supply of cultured meat. It also discusses some early results on the environmental impacts of cultured meat, emphasizing the promises (e.g., regarding the reduction in land use) but also the uncertainties. It then argues that cultured meat is a moral improvement compared to conventional meat. Finally, it discusses some regulatory issues, and the need for more public support to the innovation.

While COVID‐19 had the potential to be extremely disruptive to the Canadian pork supply chain, the sector showed resiliency by adjusting to market changes to ensure industry continuation. Unlike other non‐agricultural firms that were mandated to close at times, the pork sector was deemed an essential service and allowed to continue operating throughout the pandemic. Evidence of this resiliency is seen in three main ways. First, market access to the United States was maintained for both live pigs and pork exports. Second, Canada not only maintained market share in global pork exports, but it also actually increased shipments because of strong demand from China caused by African swine fever. Third, the challenges of processing plant closures and labour shortages were overcome in a variety of ways including increasing interprovincial shipments and increasing live pig exports to the United States. Pork consumption on a per capita basis continued the historical downward trend, and it is expected that consumers will return to their normal consumption patterns (e.g., dining at restaurants) despite job losses. At the meat processing level, it is anticipated that there will be an acceleration in the process to automate.

PurposeFood markets are characterized by asymmetric information between suppliers and consumers, which causes inefficiency of market and food safety risks. This paper studies how the food quality and safety information disclosed by the government affects the hazard analysis and critical control point (HACCP) certification decision of meat producers. The heterogeneity of the effects across different regions, provinces with different meat output scales and provinces with different intensities of food safety regulation is evaluated.Design/methodology/approachThis paper applies a unique database comprising information from multiple sources. Food quality and safety information disclosure is indicated by the number of failure records of food sampling inspections by the government in 2015–2018. Fixed-effect model is used in the analyses.FindingsThe results demonstrate that food quality and safety information disclosure has a significant effect on the HACCP certification adoption by meat producers. The effect is heterogeneous across geographic regions, i.e. this effect is larger in the east and the middle of China than that in the west and the northeast. The heterogeneity across regions may be caused by the variance in meat output scales and fiscal expenditures on food safety among provinces.Originality/valueThis research is one of the preliminary attempts to understand how producers respond in terms of HACCP certification to the amount of food quality and safety information disclosed by the government, based on the case of meat industry in China.

The ultimate objective of organic pig production is to use ingredients of 100% organic origin in the animals’ diets. However, this approach is challenging, especially when needing to ensure adequate quantities of essential amino acids (EAAs) and protein in grower-finisher diets. The current standard is 95% organic feed ingredients, but this percentage can be increased by reducing the EAA supply or by accepting an unbalanced EAA profile. A further incentive also exists to include forages in organic diets as a way to raise dietary crude fibre content. The current study therefore investigates three organic diets (T95: 5% of non-organic origin; T100: 0% of non-organic origin and T100-CF: T100 plus an increased crude fibre level), which were offered ad libitum to 48 pigs (16 per diet) weighing 22 to 110 kg. Comparison of the three diets revealed that increasing the crude fibre content (T100-CF) reduced growth, increased total feed intake and impaired feed and protein deposition efficiency, but the unbalanced EAA profile (T100) had no effect on growth traits and protein deposition efficiency. The T100 and T100-CF pigs differed from the T95 pigs in terms of feeding behaviour traits, as they displayed more frequent but shorter feeder visits, shorter between-meal intervals and smaller meals. Increasing the fibre content with press cake ingredients raised the degree of unsaturation of the backfat and might cause problems in meat processing. In conclusion, the results revealed that pigs could cope with a mild EAA imbalance.

Background Meat has been an important protein source for human nu-trition for thousands of years and will continue to be. According to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development and Food and Agriculture Organisation's (OECD-FAO)outlook report 2018–2027, the meat consumption increased around 20% in the last ten years, and it is expected to grow another 15% for the next ten years. The harsh working environ-ment in abattoirs and meat factories, such as cold and wet operating rooms and long difficult handling of heavy loads, contributing to the shortage of a skilled labour forces. This, coupled with a considerable increase in the meat consumption, paved the way for novel approaches in the meat industry to ad-dress this challenge, with robotisation and automation of the meat factories being a necessary change. Scope and approach In this work, we review the current state of robotisa-tion for the meat industry and its adaptability to a new production concept called the meat factory cell (MFC). The reviewed systems are: (a) Frontmatec AiRA Robots for pork slaugh-terlines (b) Mayekawa Hamdas-RX for deboning pork ham; (c) SCOTT Au- tomated Boning Room for lamb slaughterlines; (d) SRDViand (Syst`emes Robotis´es de D´ecoupe de Viande) Z-cut robotic system to do the separation of the hindquarter and the forequarter; (e) SRDViand ham deboning system; (f) SRDViand ECHORD-DEXDEB, a robotic butcher left hand; (g) SINTEF GRIBBOT, a chicken fillet harvesting robot. Key findings and conclusions The slaughterhouse processes can be highly automated, with products available at the market, while the meat processing plants are mainly manual; deboning and fine cuts require a higher level of dexterity comparing to primary slaughter cuts, this leads to more researches of intelligent systems. In the other hand, a new way to process the slaughter products can lead to innovation and smarter systems on slaughterhouses, with the benefits to open new opportunities for smaller producers.

Microalgae have been recognized as natural, sustainable, and economically feasible resources of non-conventional feed ingredients able to promote benefits to animal growth and improvements in the meat quality. At the same time, microalgae biomass or their isolated compounds can be directly incorporated as techno-functional ingredients in a range of meat-processed products. This review provides the latest updates on the use of microalgae biomass as a source of nutrients in animal feed describing the main effects on the nutritional, technological, and sensory quality of the meat. Besides, relevant aspects of the direct incorporation of microalgae biomass or isolated compounds in meat-derived products are discussed, concerning changes in the nutritional composition, sensory characteristics, and technological properties. Finally, challenges and perspectives are presented.

Article Details: Received: 2020-11-03 | Accepted: 2020-11-27 | Available online: 2021-01-31 https://doi.org/10.15414/afz.2021.24.mi-prap.118-121 The aim of the present study was to evaluate the influence of sex on selected fattening, carcass and qualitative veal parameters of Slovak Simmental breed. The comparison was carried out on the 8 male and the 8 female animals. The animals were reared under the same housing conditions and were fed with grass hay (ad libitum) , feed straw and calves feed concentrate, and had a free access to the fresh water. The fattening period started from about 70 days of age to required final weight. Length of the fattening period was 180 days. The slaughter and carcass composition, carcass yield, qualitative, physical and technological characteristics of Longissimus thoracis et lumborum muscle were studied. We found a significantly higher proportion of bones and a significantly higher proportion of separable fat in the carcass half in males. Higher proportion of meat were found in females. At the heifers was found, although not significantly, a higher proportion of internal fat (rumen, intestinal, kidney, pelvic). Significantly different pH measured 24 hours post mortem was found between males and females (P

Objective. Identification, assessment and solution of the main problems of livestock processing enterprises in the Republic of Kazakhstan. Methods. In the course of the study, analytical and economic-statistical methods, general scientific methods of systemic, comparative and structural-logical analysis were applied. Results. The article presents the results of the assessment of the current situation processing of livestock products in the Republic of Kazakhstan, the dynamics of dairy production for 2015–2019, which have a significant effect on the production direction of the industry, the regional location of the dairy enterprises, security at the expense of domestic production, exports and imports of milk and dairy products. The main problems of the milk processing industry are identified. Measures of state support for the processing of agricultural products are disclosed in order to ensure maximum utilization of processing enterprises, increase the share of processing of agricultural raw materials and increase the competitiveness of domestic products in the domestic and foreign markets. The current situation of meat processing enterprises in terms of their number and workload in the context of regions and in the republic as a whole is studied. The article presents the dynamics of the production of sausage products, canned meat and meat-growing products, security due to domestic production, as well as the export and import of meat products. The main problems and a number of measures of state support for the meat industry implemented by the state are indicated. Trends in the development of agricultural processing enterprises within the framework of the main state programs for the development of the meat industry of the Republic of Kazakhstan are presented. The scientific novelty lies in the study of the problems of processing livestock products in the Republic of Kazakhstan and the definition of the main directions of state support for processing enterprises in the livestock industry.

Over the past two decades United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have engaged in a series of workplace raids in small rural towns home to meat processing plants. Targeted enforceme...

In today’s economic conditions, problems of functioning of domestic enterprises are not limited by lack of sources of financing of assets, but also often associated with inefficient investment in specific components of property, which adversely affects the level of economic efficiency of Ukrainian enterprises and the development of the economy as a whole. An important factor in making sound, rational and sound decisions about asset management is to improve existing or develop fundamentally new methods and models for optimizing the structure of assets of Ukrainian enterprises using criteria that are most relevant to current economic requirements, environmental challenges and internal objectives. In view of the above, the article demonstrates a clear dependence of the structure of the assets of the enterprise and the key indicators that characterize the effectiveness of its management. The optimal structure of assets for the studied enterprises and possible ways of their achievement are offered taking into account the defined criteria. A comparative assessment of the assets structure of the surveyed enterprises before and after optimization was carried out and on this basis the latter was confirmed by comparing the key parameters of the enterprise performance — profit and market value. A clear sequence of stages of the asset structure optimization model is proposed and described, along with methodological aspects of determining the effective structure of assets, the feasibility of its practical application at Ukrainian enterprises is proved through the achievement of the key goal of the enterprise activity — maximization of market value and profit.

Poor adherence to food safety and wholesome practices in meat processing and handling is a common phenomenon in some public abattoirs in Nigeria. The quality of beef consumed by the University community is an issue of concern. Information on the extent of beef patronage has not been documented. Thus, beef demand at the University of Ibadan abattoir was assessed. Ante-mortem and post-mortem inspections by the University Veterinarian were performed on slaughter days from January 2013 to April 2015. The data collected were customer: day of purchase, Department/Unit, sex and rank. The quantity demanded and the parts requested were also noted. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The results showed that a total of 22,884 contacts were recorded. An increase in patronage from 42.24% in 2013 to 57.76% in 2014 was evident. Women (53.60%) requested for meat than male counterpart. The requests for 1-2kg, 2-4kg and above 4kg at a time were 58.9%, 19.1% and10.0% respectively. For the day of purchase, the patronage was higher on Fridays (59.20%) as compared to Wednesdays. The last week of the month attracted higher demand (36.20%) than weeks 1 (21.0%), 2 (22.3%) and 3 (20.5%). A noticeable increase in demand was during festive periods. A high percentage occurred in the number of customers that specified the actual parts (63.5%) of the meat requested and those that did not while females specified more (57.82%) than males. Highest preference for special parts was observed among the Professors (45%). More patronage was observed for people at closer Departments/Unit to the abattoir. It may be concluded that day of slaughter, proximity to slaughter house, sex, status and special occasions are vital factors that affect beef demand enterprise in the University of Ibadan. Keywords: Beef demand; slaughter house; University of Ibadan

15 pags, 5 figs, 3 tabs. -- Supplementary data to this article can be found online at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.csbj.2021.11.027., Many microorganisms feed on the tissue and recalcitrant bone materials from dead animals, however little is known about the collaborative effort and characteristics of their enzymes. In this study, microbial metagenomes from symbionts of the marine bone-dwelling worm Osedax mucofloris, and from microbial biofilms growing on experimentally deployed bone surfaces were screened for specialized bone-degrading enzymes. A total of 2,043 taxonomically (closest match within 40 phyla) and functionally (1 proteolytic and 9 glycohydrolytic activities) diverse and non-redundant sequences (median pairwise identity of 23.6%) encoding such enzymes were retrieved. The taxonomic assignation and the median identity of 72.2% to homologous proteins reflect microbial and functional novelty associated to a specialized bone-degrading marine community. Binning suggests that only one generalist hosting all ten targeted activities, working in synergy with multiple specialists hosting a few or individual activities. Collagenases were the most abundant enzyme class, representing 48% of the total hits. A total of 47 diverse enzymes, representing 8 hydrolytic activities, were produced in Escherichia coli, whereof 13 were soluble and active. The biochemical analyses revealed a wide range of optimal pH (4.0-7.0), optimal temperature (5-65 °C), and of accepted substrates, specific to each microbial enzyme. This versatility may contribute to a high environmental plasticity of bone-degrading marine consortia that can be confronted to diverse habitats and bone materials. Through bone-meal degradation tests, we further demonstrated that some of these enzymes, particularly those from Flavobacteriaceae and Marinifilaceae, may be an asset for development of new value chains in the biorefinery industry., We acknowledge financial support of ERA-NET Marine Biotechnology (GA no.: 604814) funded under the FP7 ERA-NET scheme and nationally managed from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research and Norwegian Research Council, the grants PCIN-2017-078 (within the Marine Biotechnology ERA-NET), BIO2017-85522-R, PID2020-112758RB-I00 and PDC2021-121534-I00 from the Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI) (Digital Object Identifier 10.13039/501100011033), Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) and the European Union (“NextGenerationEU/PRTR”), and the grant 2020AEP061 from the Agencia Estatal CSIC. F.J.P and J.S-A. acknowledges grants PID2019-105838RB-C31 and PID2019-105838RB-C33 from the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI), Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) and the European Union (EU). Additional funding was received from the Norwegian Biodiversity Information Centre (PA 809116 knr. 47-14) and NORCE Norwegian Research Centre. J.W. acknowledge the use of de.NBI cloud and the support by the High Performance and Cloud Computing Group at the Zentrum für Datenverarbeitung of the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) through grant no 031 A535A. K.S.M. is supported by intramural funds of the US Department of Health and Human Services (to the National Library of Medicine).

To stop hunger, reducing food losses is a potential movement towards saving food. A large portion of these losses could be avoided and reduced through the improved food chain in many countries. Raising awareness on how and where food losses occur will help recovering foods such as meat by identifying solutions and convincing people to implement those solutions. This, in turn, will lead to private and public efforts to recover meat that might be otherwise wasted. After highlighting the importance of food saving benefits and relevant statistics, this paper explains the possible ways to reduce meat loss and waste in abattoirs and presents a framework for prevention according to the estimates of meat losses in Iran meat supply. The current article answers the questions of where do we have the meat loss in Iran and what approaches are most successful in reducing losses in the meat industry. The national average loss and waste in meat production are about 300,000 metric tonnes (about 15%). Many segments and players are involved with this huge amount of losses in the meat value chain, a large portion of these losses could be avoided and reduced by about 25% through using by-products with the mechanization of design and manufacturing. The production amount of mechanically deboned meat (MDM) is 105,091,000 kg, concluding the major waste (88.33%) of total poultry losses. Ensuring appropriate actions by exploiting the full potential of engaged Iranian associations and institutes is considered to reduce the losses.

The end product of the pig production is carcass. Lean meat content is a measure of the quality of the carcass. Serbia is one of only a few countries in Europe which has not yet adopted the practice of pig's carcasses classification and failed to regulate this issue through legislation. The purpose of this work was to measure lean meat content in carcasses probed in several slaughterhouses in the Province of Vojvodina (northern Serbia) and to classify them according to the SEUROP classification. In total it was classified 65764 pig carcasses in eight different slaughterhouses. The lean mean content was measured on the slaughter line 45 minutes post mortem with the one-point puncture model. The measurement was carried out with the optoelectronic probe for the classification of pig carcasses CLASSPRO GmbH (Germany). The percentage of meat in the carcass was calculated using the mathematical model. In all eight slaughterhouses in which the measurements were done there was no poor quality (P class) pig carcass. The majority of carcasses were in the class E-excellent (35545 carcasses or 54.05% in total) and U-very good (25864 carcasses or 39.33% in total). However, a very small number of the carcasses were in the superior class with more than 60% of lean meat content, only 2072 carcasses or 3.15% in total. Any future effort which the government would put in the implementation of the system of pricing of pigs based on the carcass characteristics would have enormous effect on the pig production in general. The pig producers would have the reason to invest in better farm management, selection in effort to improve the quality of the end products-pigs. In addition, the meat industry would certainly have benefits by having a higher quality raw material for further processing.

Liquidity and profitability are closely related economic categories. The issue of constant balancing between liquidity and profitability, in theory known as "liquidity-profitability trade off", has been the subject of significant interest of the scientific community. There is no consensus on the direction of the impact of liquidity on profitability, but the existence of this impact in practice is confirmed. The aim of this paper is to investigate the impact of liquidity on profitability, based on selected traditional financial indicators, for medium and large enterprises in the group of processing and preserving of meat and meat products of the Republic of Serbia, in the period 2016 to 2019. The findings of a multiple linear regression analysis, show that the ratio of long-term sources and fixed assets in the group of processing and preserving of meat and meat products makes a statistically significant contribution predicting the return on assets.

Thermal treatment is a widely applied food processing technology in the meat industry due to its convenience. However, the interpretation of the changes in the bacterial community and quality properties in the thermal processed meat products have not been well established. Therefore, the effects of thermal treatment on the quality characteristics and bacterial communities in meatballs during storage at 4°C were investigated, which will provide a more comprehensive understanding of the influence of thermal treatment on the meat quality. Thermal treatment (121°C, 15 min) decreased the initial total viable bacterial counts by 2.1 log CFU/g and the diversity of the initial bacterial communities in meatballs. Compared with the thermal treatment group, a significantly more rapidly increasing trend of total volatile basic nitrogen and a decreasing trend of pH were observed in the control group. At the end of storage, the bacterial community was dominated by Streptococcus, Acinetobacter and Pseudomonas in the thermal treatment meatballs, whereas Pseudomonas, Pantoea, and Serratia. dominated the bacterial community of the control group. Besides, the predicted metabolic pathways revealed high levels of carbohydrate, amino acid, and lipid metabolism in the control group. This finding could contribute to a deep understanding of the influence of thermal treatment on the meat quality. Moreover, these results could provide a theoretical foundation for the development of alternative and novel nonthermal processing technologies for use in the meat industry., The findings of this study demonstrated that thermal treatment (121°C, 15 min) could significantly decrease bacterial community diversity and the growth of potential spoilage bacteria in meatballs. In particular, thermal treatment could largely decrease the relative abundance of bacterial metabolic pathways in meatballs, such as carbohydrate, amino acid, and lipid metabolism to maintain the freshness of meatballs during storage.

COVID-19 has brought to the fore the violence faced by slaughterhouse workers and those they are charged with slaughtering. This article argues that COVID-19 has wrought an acceleration of the slow violence of state organized race crime (Nixon, Ward), in spreading rapidly through the slaughterhouse and to surrounding racialized communities. We show that zoonotic pandemics are the result of state organized race crime, and that abattoirs are locations of inseparable animal and racial violence. We then analyse how the law and state institutions have positioned slaughterhouse work as essential, contra workers’ claims and general knowledge that meat is an inessential ‘item’. We argue that this demonstrates the mechanics of state organized race crime and accelerates the speed of slow violence, while maintaining its insidious and routine nature. We then consider the #Boycottmeat movement which includes slaughterhouse workers, whom despite having a vested interest in this industry, have advocated for meat boycotts and a transition to plant-based diets as a matter of personal and collective safety.

Major outbreaks of the coronavirus among workers in meatpacking plants have brought renewed public scrutiny to a hazardous industry. Working conditions had improved through the mid-twentieth century, after investigations by muckraking journalist Upton Sinclair and others early in the century exposed unsafe and unsanitary practices. But benefits and protections for workers have steadily eroded in recent decades, due to the decline of unions and rise of globalized trade and labor sourcing. The backsliding in an industry with a mostly immigrant workforce occurred largely out of the public eye, until the pandemic raised concerns about the food supply.

Designing meat processing systems can be a complex process since this type of cyber-physical production system has two distinguishing properties: divergent product routings due to the cutting up of meat (known as co-production), and variability in the outcome of production processes (known as random yield). In this paper, we present a model-based design framework for meat processing systems, which can be used for performance prediction and system validation of a designed system. We show how an agent-based production control layer can be integrated into a model-based design architecture for meat processing systems. Finally, this framework describes how to route products through a system with co-production and random yield.

Salmonella enterica is among the most important foodborne pathogens. In Ecuador, there is limited information about non-typhoidal S. enterica occurrence in raw meats, its serotype distribution, and antimicrobial resistance. In this study, we addressed this issue in 1095 retail fresh meats (chicken, pork, veal, lamb, beef, and turkey) in Quito by performing a traditional culture methodology and molecular detection. We found that S. enterica was present in 38.1% of the samples, and Salmonella Infantis was the most common serotype showing a high antibiotic resistance and a wide host range. Some host-adapted serotypes were found in uncommon sources of meat, suggesting cross-contamination and the need to implement good manufacturing practices in meat processing. High levels of multidrug resistance were found in all serotypes. There is an urgent need to identify Salmonella serotypes in food to compare with clinical data and to carry out epidemiological studies to control and prevent outbreaks and infections.

Six pig breeds: Belarusian large white, Belarusian meat, Belarusian black and white, landrace, Yorkshire and Duroc are involved in breeding and hydridization of pig breeding in Belarus. More than 85 % of pigs supplied to meat processing plants of the Republic are provided by different combinations of interbreed hydridization.For the effective development of this branch in the Republic, the Scientific-Practical Center on Animal Husbandry of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus organized the system of selection and breeding work in pig breeding directed to create new competitive breeds, types, and hydrides of pigs adapted to the industrial production conditions and not inferior to the productivity of the analogs of the world selection.The main link of this system is the first-order breeding plants (nucleus units) as new-type plants dealing with the selection and breeding of the best animals with the outstanding genetically conditioned breeding and productive qualities. The second link of this system is the first-order breeding breeders that are completed with high-valuable breeding pigs from the leading nucleus unit and are engaged in their reproduction to obtain grandparents (GP).Assessing the level of the technological development of pig breeding in Belarus during the period to the 2030 year, we predicted the indices for the all predictable years (2020–2030). The existing level of the technological development of the pig breeding branch is assessed as the mean one. During 2020–2021 the pig breeding level will be moderate-high, during 2022– 2023 – high, and since 2025–2030 – intensive.