NEW TECHNOLOGIES IN SLAUGHTERING, PRE-CUTTING AND CUTTING – INFLUENCE ON SAFETY AND QUALITY OF MEAT

Abstract

The development of new technologies often directs to more rational and automatic processes. Thereby, the infl uence of the innovation on safety and quality of products must also be taken into consideration. Slaughterhouse equipment suppliers made increased efforts in the last few years to automate the process of slaughtering as far as possible for economic reasons and for reasons of hygiene. After the attempt to implement a concept of using special machines failed in the market, one is now concentrating on standard industrial robots, as they are being used in large numbers for example in the automobile industry. Initial experience indicates that robots are more reliable and hygienic than human beings. In the meantime, effi cient robots are available also for the purpose of primal cutting. In the fi eld of meat cutting, another new technology was evaluated in MRI Kulmbach. Experiments were made cutting pork (M. longissimus dorsi) in slices using a high pressure waterjet (3800 bar). The results showed, that the fesh meat surfaces nearly were sterile and the shelf-life of this meat (under retail conditions) was much longer compared to conventionally slicer-cut steaks.