Meat Packing Journal, Jan-Feb 2017, iss 1 vol 4

The international magazine for the meat and poultry industry

MEAT PACKING J O U R N A L

January~February 2017 volume 4 | issue 1 ISSN 2054-4685

Pork vS

P.24

poultry sodium nitrite confusion reigns

P.58

German machines now affordable

P.42

jan archer talks pig and pork

C o Mmen t

Warning: Warning l abels m ay be h a z a rd ous

I

’m going to take a wild guess here and say that between 7am and 12 noon today you’ve seen at least a dozen warning labels and not read a single one of them. And why would you? Either they’re about something so obvious – Do Not Touch Live Wires – or they’re just buzz legal crap that a manufacturer has gobbled together to avoid a lawsuit from a vexatious litigant – someone who is constantly suing.

So the question is, why do we allow this? Why do we bend over and let a very small minority – using dubious research – to convince a government body to slap a warning sticker on foods which scares the flock?

On something that the chances of it harming us are so minute that it’s more likely we’ll be struck first by lightening.

In a recent article in the November 30 Harvard Business Review it asks the question: “Are our current warnings effective? It answers with a resounding “NO”. The authors’ reasoning is that the present system fails miserably at distinguishing between large and small risks.

“A way to understand this is what we term wolves and puppies. Wolves are rarely seen but may eat your sheep — and perhaps you as well. Puppies occasionally nip, but when they do, the results are rarely serious. The problem with our present warning system is that it shouts “Danger!” for both wolves and puppies.”

Such a system is of little value; people quickly learn to ignore warnings since they encounter vastly more puppies than wolves. The result is that when a wolf is truly present, people pay little heed.

In my home state of California, voters in 1986 passed Proposition 65, otherwise known as the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986. It was created to prevent businesses from discharging potential harmful chemicals into drinking water and requires them to disclose the presence of such chemicals on their premises. While that sounds good – who wants anyone to be allowed to dump mercury into drinking water – it’s turned into a bit of nightmare and eyesore for everyone except label makers and plaintiff lawyers.

Because the law covers more than 800 chemicals, warning signs can be seen throughout grocery stores, hardware stores, and restaurants. Companies – due to expensive lawsuits – err on the side of caution and slap a warning on everything and I do mean everything.

How many of us have seen on a bag of peanuts ‘Allergy advice: contains peanuts.’ Pointed out to me was a warning on a chainsaw that said: ‘Danger: do not hold the wrong end of a chainsaw’, and found on a dog’s veterinary prescription was: ‘May cause drowsiness, alcohol may intensify this effect, use care when operating a car’.

They obviously know something about my dog that I don’t, but come to think of it, Bosco does have a license.

Unfortunately for all, California is too often the

www.meatpacking.info

Editor's choice

I

nterview with Jan Archer, head of the National Pork Board. Page 74

tail that wags the dog and the bane of warning labels has spread across the rest of the USA and the world, excluding North Korea.

Now, the Center for Science in the Public Interest is calling on the US Department of Agriculture to require a warning label on packages of bacon, ham, hot dogs, and other processed meat and poultry products to inform consumers that eating those foods is associated with an increased risk of cancer of the colon and rectum – colorectal cancer. [Read this month’s feature on Sodium Nitrate/Nitrites for a different view].

A nine-page regulatory petition filed by the nonprofit group cites the findings of the International Agency for Research on Cancer, which concluded in 2015 that processed meat is “carcinogenic to humans.”

“Consumers deserve these warning labels to help them make informed choices about the foods they eat,” says CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson. The Center agrees with findings which state that processed meats should only be eaten “once or twice a year”.

CSPI is asking for labels of all meat and poultry products preserved by smoking, curing, salting, and/or the addition of chemical preservatives to bear this message: USDA WARNING: Frequent consumption of processed meat products may increase your risk of developing cancer of the colon and rectum. To protect your health, limit consumption of such products.

To me a proven cause of cancer is cigarette smoking; not eating bacon. But giving them the same weight of danger makes me discount and ignore both. Give me a real warning: ‘Danger: bridge out ahead’ and I’ll heed it. But as for the rest – I’ll see if I can get some ham wrapped around this hot dog.

Velo Mitrovich velo@meatpacking.info @Meat_Packing

January~February 2017 | Meat Packing Journal | 3

C ONTENT S

c ontent s 24

32

60

42

34

Cover story

12 - Pork vs Poultry: it's a battle that's been raging for decades but could chicken soon become world number one?

Pork vs poultry 12 - It's a battle for world dominance. Chicken will take the crown - the question is when 16 - Joe Gasbarro is in the corner for chicken 24 - Interview with Erik Blom, Meyn CEO president trump 28 - What a Trump presidency will mean for US agriculture and meat processing SODIUM NITRITE 34 - Despite proven health benefits the controversy is not going away. The definitive guide to the subject country profile: GERMANY 42 - A strong dollar and bobbling euro is lowering the cost of going German 50 - MPJ looks at some of the German engineering companies you should be considering

4 | Meat Packing Journal | January~February 2017

food plant refrigeration 56 - A look at blast freezers Sustainable packaging 60 - Governments, agencies, and public all want it – but none want to make it easy

also in this issue 7 - News 10 - Safety news 32 - Book Reveiw: The Ethical Carnivore 68 - Product releases 70 - Marketing news 72 - Distribution news 74 - Back page interview - Jan Archer 77 - Events

www.meatpacking.info

Debunking Myths.

Uncovering the Facts.

Chicken Squad Intelligence sheds light on chicken farming practices in BC. Follow the investigation at

chickensquad.ca

ne w s

f you’re a promising food entrepreneur who is pioneering new products and technology that could make meaningful changes and improvements to the world’s food systems, then Tyson wants to hear from you.

Tyson Foods has launched a venture capital fund, Tyson New Ventures, LLC, that will invest in companies developing breakthrough technologies, business models, and products to sustainably feed a growing world population.

Tyson will make available $150 million to the fund, which has been named Tyson New Ventures LLC, to complement the company’s continuing investment in innovation in its core fresh meats, poultry and prepared foods businesses.

The fund will concentrate on three areas in the foods space: commercializing delicious, safe and affordable alternative proteins; tack-

beyond meat

Tyson to fund alternative proteins I

ling food insecurity and food loss through market making and other commercial models; and tapping the internet of food to promote more precise and productive resource application, safety, and consumer empowerment in the food chain.

Tyson New Ventures will invest in

these entrepreneurial food businesses and leverage Tyson Foods’ expertise to boost their development. The first investment involves Tyson Foods’ previously-announced five percent ownership stake in plant-based protein producer Beyond Meat.

South Africa poultry in crisis

S

outh Africa’s largest poultry producer, RCL Foods, admits in its annual investor report that the country’s poultry industry is in deep trouble.

“RCL Foods believes that the local poultry industry is in a crisis. As a consequence, the Board is forced to look at all options in evaluating the chicken business model,” states its investor report. “Looking forward, the headwinds of low economic growth, a volatile currency, high commodity input costs, and drought impacts are real and understood.”

The company’s history goes back 120 years. It is one of the largest processors and marketers of chicken in Africa, with around 30 million www.meatpacking.info

chickens on the ground at any one time on 200 farms countrywide, says RCL. Along with the hit from its chicken production, RCL’s sugar business unit is also doing poorly, unlike its Yum Yum peanut butter or Canine Cuisine.

Record levels of dumped chicken imports and an oversupplied domestic poultry market contributed to as much as an 80 percent drop in profit for RCL. “The sugar and chicken business units have been adversely impacted by the worst drought in southern Africa in the past 100 years,” RCL said in a statement. “Chicken results have also been adversely impacted by the massively oversupplied

poultry market as a result of surplus domestic volumes as well as record levels of dumped imports.”

While South African Poultry Association’s CEO Keith Lovell has been quick to point out a recent trade deal with the USA allowing in poultry is the source of all problems, the truth is quite different.

South Africa’s poultry imports from the EU rose dramatically in 2016 while US bone-in chicken imports have been far below expectations. EU poultry imports represented 47.9 percent of all South African poultry imports of 54,514 metric tons in May. Imports from Brazil represented 43.2 percent of the total or 23,523 metric tons.

January~February 2017 | Meat Packing Journal | 7

ne w s

Warning label for bacon

T

he Center for Science in the Public Interest is calling on the US Department of Agriculture to require a warning label on packages of bacon, ham, hot dogs, and other processed meat and poultry products to inform consumers that eating those foods is associated with an increased risk of cancer of the colon and rectum.

(Be sure to read January's MPJ feature on Sodium Nitrate/Nitrites for a different view.)

A nine-page regulatory petition filed by the nonprofit group cites the findings of the International Agency for Research on Cancer, which concluded in 2015 that processed meat is “carcinogenic to humans.”

“Consumers deserve these warning labels to help them make informed choices about the foods they eat,” says CSPI executive director

Michael F. Jacobson. “Consumers who want to reduce their cancer risk may avoid processed meats or eat them much less often; other people may simply ignore the label. But without question, USDA should give people that choice.”

The Center agrees with findings which state that processed meats should only be eaten “once or twice a year”.

CSPI’s petition says USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service has the authority to require the labels under the Federal Meat Inspection Act. FSIS uses similar authority to require special labeling for meats processed without nitrate or nitrite and for mechanically tenderized meat. To protect the public’s health, USDA is obligated to require the industry to inform consumers about the risk of consuming processed

meats, according to CSPI senior food safety attorney David Plunkett.

CSPI is asking for labels of all meat and poultry products preserved by smoking, curing, salting, and/or the addition of chemical preservatives to bear this message: USDA WARNING: Frequent consumption of processed meat products may increase your risk of developing cancer of the colon and rectum. To protect your health, limit consumption of such products.

“We recognize that the chances of the Trump administration taking advantage of this opportunity to protect the public health are slim,” said Jacobson. “But at CSPI we’re used to taking the long view. We will continue pushing for regulatory measures that will protect the health of Democrats, Republicans, and all others.”

Media frenzy hits UK chicken

U

nfortunately for the UK chicken industry, it was a slow news day. In what seemed like a shark feeding frenzy, all newspapers in Britain tore into the UK chicken industry after reports came out that two-thirds of the fresh chicken sold in British stores is contaminated with an E.coli superbug.

Researchers from Cambridge University tested poultry for resistant E coli from seven major supermarkets – Tesco, Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Aldi, the Co-op and Waitrose. They found positive results for all stories.

The strain of E. coli found in the supermarket chicken is not the O157 strain which causes food poisoning and is usually found in burgers. While the antibiotic-resistant E. coli discovered in chicken does not cause diarrhea or vomiting, it is feared it stays in the gut for years.

If someone later develops an

infection, the bug can make them resistant to life-saving antibiotics, known as cephalosporins.

The report, commissioned by the Alliance to Save our Antibiotics, concluded that the “overuse of antibiotics on British farms is undermining the treatment of dangerous E. coli infections in humans”.

The British Poultry Council (BPC) said it recognized there was a problem with the overuse of antibiotics in the UK poultry farming industry.

As such, the sector had reduced its use of antibiotics by 44 percent since 2012.

Richard Griffiths, BPC policy director, said: “Our priority remains the health of our birds and the responsible therapeutic use of antibiotics, but we also need to explore further into the science of the issue.”

The Government and food industry say consumers can protect themselves by handling chicken

8 | Meat Packing Journal | January~February 2017

carefully and cooking it thoroughly.

But Dr Mark Holmes, reader in microbial genomics and veterinary science at the University of Cambridge, says that is not good enough.

As previously reported in MPJ, consumer inaction in regards to poultry safety seems universal. www.meatpacking.info

ne w s

Stun-free slaughter

I

n response to stakeholder requests for greater transparency, information, and labelling, the largest and pioneer certification body of the UK, Halal Food Authority (HFA) has taken the move to create a dedicated certification scheme and mark for their stun-free certified meat and poultry, namely Traditional Halal.

While some UK animal rights groups are seeing this as a step backwards by 'approving' the slaughter of non-stunned animals, MPG disagrees. Jewish kosher slaughtering of animals also does not use stunning, but its training can easily take up to 10-12 years.

However, with Muslim Halal slaughtering, some can become certified in less than a day. For those halal slaughtering plants then that use traditional slaughter (non-stunning),

at times the animals could suffer considerably due to a lack of training by staff. By certifying halal slaughter plants, the Halal Food Authority is ensuring that animal suffering will be at a minimum.

This line of certification will carry a label with the terms ‘Stunfree’ and ‘Traditional Halal’, in line with recommendations following consultations with the UK’s key industry players, consumer groups, and retailers.

While the HFA standards have always accepted meat from animals slaughtered without stunning, alongside its established recoverable stunning criteria, consumer and industry feedback highlighted that two separate schemes and logos for each scheme is the right step forward for market transparency and assurance.

Japan signs TPP JAPAN: In what many are seeing a just a symbolic act, Japan’s parliament has approved the TransPacific Partnership trade deal. US President-elect Donald Trump has said repeatedly that the US would withdraw from the deal – despite widespread support from America’s agriculture community.

The trade agreement, which in addition to the US and Japan, involves Canada, Australia, Brunei, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. Few, however have ratified it. Assuming Trump carries out his pledge, Japan has several options: pursue the TPP without the US; negotiate a two-way trade deal with the US; or prioritize free trade with other countries such as with China’s version of the TPP.

LIQUID STAINLESS STEEL Since our founding in 1948, Burke Industrial Coatings has specialized in engineered coatings systems designed for prevention and protection from corrosion. Burke Industrial Coatings technology is centered around water based, high performance coatings, utilizing 316L grade stainless steel flake embedded in the coating to provide unsurpassed performance in demanding environments. Burke Industrial Coatings Liquid Stainless Steel is FDA and USDA accepted, providing long term asset protection in a low VOC formulation.

+1 (800) 348-3245 | info@BurkeIndustrialCoatings.com

S A F ETY

Ne w s

Superbug MRSA may spread through poultry

A

new study by George Washing University offers evidence that a form of the dangerous superbug MethicillinResistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) can spread to humans through consumption or handling of contaminated poultry. The research shows that poultry may be an important source of human exposure to MRSA, a superbug which can cause serious infections and even death.

The research, published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases , focuses on a special newly identified strain of MRSA associated with poultry. MRSA is often found in chickens, pigs, and other food animals. Researchers know that farmers, farm workers, veterinarians

and others working directly with livestock are at risk of MRSA infections. However, this new study, by an international team of researchers headed by Robert Skov, MD, at Statens Serum Institut and Lance Price, PhD at the Milken Institute School of Public Health (Milken Institute SPH) at the George Washington University, shows that people with no exposure to livestock are becoming colonized and infected with this new strain of poultry-associated MRSA – most likely by eating or handling contaminated poultry meat.

"This poultry-associated MRSA may be more capable of transmitting from food to people. As MRSA continues to evolve, it may spread from animals to people in new

OSHA releases new practices

T

he US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has released a set of Recommended Practices for Safety and Health Programs to help employers establish a methodical approach to improving safety and health in their workplaces.

These recommendations are advisory only and do not create any new legal obligations or alter existing obligations created by OSHA standards or regulations.

OSHA says the guidelines reflect changes in the economy, workplaces, and evolving safety and health issues. The recommendations feature a new, easier-to-use format and should be particularly helpful to small- and medium-sized businesses. Also new is a section on multi-employer workplaces and a greater emphasis on continuous improvement. Supporting tools and resources are included.

ways," says Jesper Larsen, PhD, a scientist and veterinarian at the Statens Serum Institut (Denmark's equivalent to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), and lead author of the paper.

Other research suggests that modern farming practices, which often involve giving food animals low doses of antibiotics to spur their growth and compensate for overcrowding and unsanitary living conditions, has led to the rising tide of superbugs, like the new strain of MRSA identified in this study.

In addition, food inspectors don't typically test poultry and other food products for MRSA contamination and instead are focused on Salmonella and other more typical foodborne pathogens.

Foreign materials USA: Following consumer complaints and one potential injury, Crider of Georgia, USA, recalled 5,610 pounds of canned Wild Planet organic roasted chicken breast that may be contaminated with foreign materials, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS).

Pulled pork pulled

Key principles include: leadership from the top to send a message that safety and health is critical to the business operations; worker participation in finding solutions; and a systematic approach to find and fix hazards.

10 | Meat Packing Journal | January~February 2017

USA: Brookwood Farms of North Carolina, USA has recalled 126,570 pounds of pulled pork products due to misbranding and undeclared allergens, according to FSIS. The product contains soy, a known allergen which is not declared on the product label.

www.meatpacking.info

S A F ETY

STEEN

Ne w s

®

www.steen.be

STEEN 850 The STEEN ST850 turkey de-boner is constructed as a carousel on which the products are placed in line with the deboning head.

The machine provides perfect results without any bone breakage, every time when deboning anatomically cut turkey thighs, drumsticks or wings.

With one person operating the machine, the capacity is 35 pieces a minute.

STEEN FPM INTERNATIONAL NV/SA Belgium (head office): +32 3 665 04 00 • Fax: +32 3 665 34 58 www.steen.be • info@steen.be PHONE USA: 404-374-3966 - PHONE CAN: 416-414-6762

dumplings dumped

Oral injury

Smelly dried pork

USa: Klement’s Sausage Company of Wisconsin is recalling 1,689 pounds of beef and pork products that may be contaminated with extraneous materials. The company has received one report of an oral injury associated with consumption of these products.

USa: La Quercia of Iowa, USA is recalling 930 pounds of dried pork loin after a FAIA inspector noticed an “off-odor.” The dried pork was not properly dehydrated, which could lead to dangerous bacteria growth. There have been no confirmed reports of illnesses.

Blue plastic chicken

Quebec Listeria risk

Listeria in school

USa: OSI Industries of Wisconsin is recalling 21,403 pounds of readyto-eat chicken products that may be contaminated with extraneous materials, FSIS announced.

The problem was discovered when the firm received notification of three consumer complaints mentioning firm blue plastic in their product. The product was contaminated around the time a trim belt repair was made.

CANADA: Charcuterie Parisienne of Montreal, Canada, is recalling four cured meat products because of potential Listeria monocytogenes contamination.

According to the recall notice posted by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, the products were only available via retail in Quebec. No quantities were mentioned in the recall notice.

WALES: Cooked chicken has been withdrawn from schools in south Wales after potentially harmful levels of listeria were discovered in the product. It was unclear if the entire batch of chicken was affected. The samples in which the bacteria was found were taken from schools where the catering staff noticed an unusual smell.

USa: Clair Foods of Tennasee, USA, is recalling 26,800 pounds of chicken and dumplings due to misbranding and an undeclared allergen, says FSIS. The products contain milk, a known allergen, which was not declared on the product label.

www.meatpacking.info

January~February 2017 | Meat Packing Journal | 11

p o rk

v s

p o ult ry

Jab-Jab-POW!

It’s the fight of the century

pork vs chicken

12 | Meat Packing Journal | January~February 2017

www.meatpacking.info

p o rk

v s

p o ult ry

While in the States chicken rules supreme, in the rest of world when the two go beak to snout, it’s pork that ends up wearing the champion’s belt. But for how much longer will pork keep the crown? MPJ Editor Velo Mitrovich reports

I

t can be hard for many Americans to believe – especially those who don’t live in the Deep South or Midwest – but chicken is NOT the world’s favorite protein. As a friend said: “A pig running wild in German is less common than seeing a yeti on the autobahn.” The same holds true for China, Poland, Russia, much of South America, in fact, pretty much everywhere except Moslem countries and the USA. Even in Israel if you know what to ask for – white meat – you can easily find pork.

I can easily understand this world craving for all things pork. Due to my wife being a member of one of those faiths which forbids pork, it’s a rare day in May that pork is allowed to pass my lips at home. Maybe this is why I love it so much when I’m on the road. Salami in Naples, Cumberland sausage in the UK, pulled pork in North Carolina, roast pork carnitas burritos in California, moo shu pork in Hong Kong, wonderful smoked bacon in Texas, and beautiful, plate-size pieces of pork schnitzel in Bavaria. I have met, eaten, and loved them all.

You can start your day with pork, enjoy it for lunch, and savor it during dinner. There are even cocktails made with bacon. Can you do that with our feathered friend?

And even if you could, would you want to?

Unless you deep fry chicken and/or punch it up with spices or sauce, it’s hard to get excited.

So why does pork taste amazing and chicken rarely does? It’s simple; it’s the fat in pork that we’ve evolved to crave and this is one reason why chicken is Number One in the States.

Huh? Sixty-years-ago pigs in the USA were fat. This is no slur on the pig; it’s the way the trotters were raised; it’s what customers and industry wanted.

Then in the 1960s, pork and pork lard were seen as being unhealthy. Part of this turn to the worse came from US President Dwight Eisenhower’s series of heart attacks and blame was put on his high-fat diet – somehow forgetting the fact that until he was almost 60, Ike had a four-pack a day cigarette habit.

Pork took a beating at the supermarket and restaurant. Farmers were told that if they kept

www.meatpacking.info

January~February 2017 | Meat Packing Journal | 13

p o rk

v s

p o ult ry

growing fat pigs they’d find their profits growing lean. They reacted, breeding pigs which were both smaller and leaner. The National Pork Board came out with one of the most effective ad campaigns of all time – Pork. The other white meat – and even the US Department of Agriculture changed its ‘Gold Standard’ for pork, increasing the proportion of muscling and decreasing the depth of fatback to get US No. 1 grade.

A side affect of this was cuts such as pork chops would fry-up dry and pork started tasting bland – like chicken. Consumers were faced then with two proteins, both tasting similar, with the biggest difference being the cost. From the 1960s and onwards, chicken producers and processing equipment manufacturers were able to drive down the cost of producing chicken; lower prices for consumers followed.

Leaving beef out of the equation due to its consistent higher costs, in 1960 there was only around $0.12 price difference per pound between pork and chicken. By 1970 – when broilers were actually CHEAPER than they were in 1960 – the price difference between pork and chicken grew to $0.36 and it’s been growing ever since. According to the National Chicken Council, in 2016 beef topped out at $6.20; pork $3.78, and chicken at $1.42. In 1989 Americans were eating more chicken than pork; by 1992 chicken had beaten out beef and has never looked back.

Worldwide, the consumption of pork is estimated

by FAO to be this year 121,337,000 metric tons; 14 | Meat Packing Journal | January~February 2017

poultry is estimated to be 117,608,000. However, FAO is predicting that sometime between 2024 and 2025 poultry will become the undisputed world champ. Pork’s estimate is 130,797,000MT; chicken is 131,255,000MT. Others think it will come much, much sooner, and indeed some think when figures are added up for 2016, pork will find itself unseated.

This comes as no surprise. There are numerous advantages that chicken has over pork as far as production goes – and none of these positives are likely to change into negatives within the conceivable future. Pork production is mostly concentrated in China, with the USA and Germany coming in distant second and third place. Chicken production, on the other hand, is distributed more evenly around the world allowing it to be more in tune to local economic conditions. In addition, while disease outbreaks such as Avian influenza can decimate some areas, the total world production is affected less and rebounds much faster than when pig diseases such as Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea tear through the farms.

In addition, chicken has a smaller feed conversion ratio, requires less water, can be eaten by all major religions, and grows faster. For people trying to lose weight or gain muscle mass chicken is always part of the menu, while pork is not, despite certain cuts being just as lean and healthy.

That said, in the USA consumers are taking a second look at fat being part of a healthy diet, and some are just flat out rebelling against lean, bland foods.

“Chefs that work for major restaurant chains and manufacturers, they’re out eating and trying to find out what’s next, and they found pork belly,” says Stephen Gerike, director of food-service marketing and innovation at the National Pork Board. “Pork belly is hyperindulgent – if you want to drive traffic and get attention, pork belly is going to increase same-store sales, because people will want to come and try it.”

Pork just seems to give consumers more choices when it comes to flavor. Smithfield Foods is launching seven new products to encourage consumers to explore the latest in cooking trends and flavor innovation. With the rise in slow cooker cooking, all bacon everything and holiday entertaining, the brand is offering something for everyone while expanding their current product line to tap into consumers’ love of unique flavor combinations. Some of these flavors include Boneless Pork Shoulder Carnitas, Sweet & Smokey and Homestyle Marinated Pork Roasts.

Chicken or pork; pork or chicken – it’s a hard call. Going into 2017, they both seem like equal contenders.

For more on pork, be sure to read the Back Page interview with Jan Archer, president of the US National Pork Board. www.meatpacking.info

BREAST FILLETING

MEETS INTELLIGENCE • • •

Top fillet quality and optimum fillet yield Intelligent breast cap measuring Automatic adjustment of module settings

Come and experience the AMF-i at IPPE, 31/1 - 2/2 2017, Atlanta USA Contact us to find out more: +31 485 586111 info.poultry@marel.com marel.com/poultry

fresh thinking

Rigid Tray Vacuum Skin Packaging Rfresh® Evolve The broadest rigid vacuum skin pack tray range on the market Fully recyclable Available in a range of materials Complete machine flexibility with no lock-in to materials supply Runs on conventional tray sealing machinery with quick and easy changeover Custom and standard print designs available

LINPAC | Wakefield Road | Featherstone | West Yorkshire | WF7 5DE t: +44 1977 692400 | e: info@linpac.com

p o rk

v s

p o ult ry

Round one: chicken

T

he Gasbarro family of Ohio, USA, and Prime Equipment Group are some of the lead creators in the modern poultry deboning industry, pulling poultry up from a once a week meal to now the USA’s leading protein. In chicken’s corner is Joe Gasbarro.

What would it take for poultry to take the global crown?

Globally, the type of meat consumed depends on where you’re talking about. Culturally, in places like Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil, it’s rodizio – beef.

In China and Asia, it’s pork – 60 percent of China’s protein consumption is pork, and China alone consumes more than half of the world’s pork. It’s huge.

Chicken is continuing to grow, but at different rates in different countries. Within China, for example, chicken consumption increases when pork prices rise, but the government has large programs in place to help stabilize the availability and price of pork. So generally poultry consumption grows, but more slowly than it would without market manipulation from within China. In Brazil, chicken is coming on, and it’s coming on in other areas as well – Latin America, Europe, India and elsewhere.

Why is poultry better than pork?

Poultry’s big strength in the protein livestock market is that it is best in feed conversion – it takes the least feed to produce a pound of protein with a chicken. That makes chicken the most cost-effective protein to grow, and it’s less expensive for the consumer to buy.

That also means that it’s the first protein that 16 | Meat Packing Journal | January~February 2017

people start consuming when their income increases to more middle-class standards. When people get money, they start eating chicken. So as the middle-class starts emerging in places like Russia, India, and China and elsewhere, chicken is coming on strong.

While the WHO and USDA all chart world production continuing to rise until at least 2025, are you anticipating in the States a chicken saturation point coming on?

We’re optimistic on steady growth. Free trade will be key to continued production growth, both domestically and internationally, particularly in countries that have the capacity to produce more than can be locally consumed, places like the U.S. and Brazil, for example. The market for chicken really is global.

Prime has recently cut a deal with Sterling Manufacturing turkey deboning equipment. Do you see turkey becoming as large a player as chicken, or will most in the West continue to see turkey as a once or twice a year meal?

Turkey’s feed conversion is not quite as good as chicken, but it certainly has the potential for growth. Culturally, in places like China, turkey just isn’t known, but we definitely see Turkey consumption continuing to grow in places like Russia, where Prime has been part of a number of turkey projects.

Turkey consumption is growing in Eastern Europe and Western Europe, and somewhat in Latin America. In the US the industry is working to expand consumption with new turkey products, and they’ve been having some success.

Historically, Prime is the equipment supplier to www.meatpacking.info

p o rk

the turkey industry – no other company designs, builds and delivers more machines to the turkey processing industry than we do. We’re hearing good things from our customers around the world.

Prime has a strong presence in Latin America.

Are you anticipating strong growth throughout the region?

Again, we’re cautiously optimistic and looking for moderate growth. There has been some turmoil in Latin America. Brazil just threw out their president.

Argentina went from a socially liberal president to a more business-friendly administration, and unemployment is high. Chile and Colombia are the bright spots currently.

Poultry used to be sold whole, then whole cutup for home frying, and now parts. Pound for pound, wings – once discarded – are now the most expensive cut of a chicken thanks to Buffalo wings. What part of the chicken do you see next becoming the most popular?

v s

p o ult ry

increased robotics. What have you heard regarding this?

Put it this way: we know of one company that had 600 openings across its plants, and a recruiting drive was able to net only 60 applicants – and of those, only 25 percent passed the drug test. That speaks to your question, but also underscores that the real growing problem is the availability of workers.

That means automation continues to be incredibly important. Processors will have to automate even more to stay profitable. And Prime continues to innovate to find better ways to bring more automation into plants. There’s a reason we put such a high percentage of our profits into R&D, and it’s so we can upgrade existing machines and design new ones to help our customers as their needs change going forward.

Boneless dark meat is definitely a growing area. Ten years ago, the majority of dark meat was exported as whole leg quarters. Now, more and more, it’s being sold deboned for consumption either as fillets or for use in sausage and other products like patties and nuggets.

Additionally, a lot of processors just throw away gizzards, necks and livers, which doesn’t make much sense, since there are export markets for them. That can be a great area for growth.

MPJ was told that with more and more US states legalizing cannabis, it will soon become difficult finding a processing plant labor force which could pass a drug test, creating a huge need for www.meatpacking.info

January~February 2017 | Meat Packing Journal | 17

p o rk

v s

p o ult ry

Round two: pork

S

mithfield Foods knows pork. In the USA alone it has facilities in 23 states, including the largest slaughterhouse and meat processing plant in the world, located in North Carolina. It also has operations in Mexico and in Europe, with a global total of over 46,000 employees and an annual revenue of $14 billion.

How does Smithfield see the overall pork market in the United States?

With pork consumption on the rise in the United States, the market is constantly innovating to adapt to consumer trends with a focus on wellness, convenience, and taste.

Smithfield is the world’s largest pork producer.

In which countries is Smithfield based and/or available besides the United States?

In addition to operating in 23 US states, Smithfield operates in the United Kingdom, Poland, and

Romania. Smithfield Foods is a global food company supplying more than 3,800 retailers, restaurants, and foodservice companies in over 40 countries.

How many tons of pork does Smithfield process a year? How many tons of ham?

In just the United States, Smithfield produces 4 billion pounds of pork and more than 800 million pounds of ham annually.

With Smithfield’s vertical integration in processing, does Smithfield tend to work with the same equipment suppliers, design its own, or pick and choose between various companies as the need arises?

Smithfield partners with a variety of suppliers to produce our products in a cost-effective way, with an emphasis on safety and quality, to best meet customer and consumer demand. We are currently collaborating with suppliers to develop equipment that is innovative, sustainable, and user-friendly.

Does Smithfield take a micro or macro view in pork products (i.e. creating products for very specific markets or viewing pork on a global stage)?

Here at Smithfield, we look at creating new products on both the micro and macro level. Within North America, we are creating products for our key segments, whether it is bacon, ribs, sausage, ham, etc., in niche markets as well as on a national scale.

And even though most consumers don’t think on a global level, we do have a collaborative relationship with our Smithfield International offices, sharing ideas and best practices that serve the needs of our consumers in all of the areas where our products are available.

18 | Meat Packing Journal | January~February 2017

www.meatpacking.info

p o rk

While pork is number one worldwide, is there a chance of pork beating out chicken for top spot in the United States?

For pork to beat out chicken, a number of things would have to occur. We’re seeing chefs increasingly add pork to their menu and use in creative recipes. Simultaneously, chefs are becoming increasingly influential to consumers’ purchase decisions. As a result, consumers are re-discovering the decadence of pork. Additionally, important trade campaigns are helping create awareness and drive trial, such as the National Pork Board’s “Think Pink” campaign.

Does Smithfield plan on releasing a steady amount of new products each year or are new products consumer and economy driven?

Over the last few years, Smithfield has released hundreds of new products into the marketplace.

With innovation as a core company pillar, we will continue to develop new products and innovate, focusing on the needs of the consumers and customers.

What is the time frame from idea to supermarket shelf?

The time frame can be as little as six months, or can be longer depending on the complexity of the products and the state of the marketplace at the time.

What is Smithfield expecting to be big in 2017?

Any guess what will be big in 2020?

With innovation a core focus, we have a growing team at our state-of-the-art Innovation Center here in Smithfield, working with and aligning talents to bring big things to the industry. So you will have to wait and see! www.meatpacking.info

v s

p o ult ry

Is there a distinct pork buying difference between the Boomers and the Millennials?

We see several differences between the demands of Boomers and Millennials, such as expectations regarding serving size and flavor variety. Millennials continue to show interest in convenience, adventurous flavor profiles, and cleaner labels, for example.

With family sizes getting smaller and more singles, does Smithfield see a change in packaging, instead of ‘family size’, ‘single size’?

Our typical size serves a family, however, we understand the consumer household sizes are changing so we have invested in and launched several products that accommodate smaller sizes such as our Anytime Favorites line. We expect this to continue to evolve.

Does Smithfield have a position on the use of traditional sodium nitrate as opposed to ‘natural’ nitrates from celery juice extract/powder?

Smithfield Foods is committed to producing “Good Food. Responsibly®” and uses traditional sodium nitrate as well as celery extracts in cured meat recipes. Aside from the meat, nitrite is the most important ingredient in the manufacture of cured meats. For centuries, nitrite has inhibited the risk of botulism in cured meats.

In addition to its food safety functionality, nitrite serves to develop color and prevent oxidative flavor degradation of cured meats.

The functions of nitrite do not differ whether introduced to cured meat recipes through traditional sodium nitrate or through celery juice extract /powder. Therefore, Smithfield Foods utilizes either source to meet the needs of our consumers with safe, affordable, quality cured meat offerings.

January~February 2017 | Meat Packing Journal | 19

p o rk

v s

p o ult ry

Poultry products

Fastest natural casing linker in industry

Belt eliminates contamination

When it comes to worldwide sausage production, Reiser’s Vemag provides the highest levels of product quality, portioning accuracy, consistent performance and reliability. Reiser says that its Vemag LPG208 High-Speed Length Portioning Machine is the fastest natural casing linker in the industry. The LPG208 allows processors to increase sausage production by 30 to 50 percent without adding labor.

The LPG208 features two rotating linking horns to significantly reduce casing change times and dramatically increase production. The automatic two-horn system eliminates the downtime found in the start-and-stop casing loading process of single-horn machines. As the casing on the first horn is stuffed and linked, the operator simultaneously loads a second casing onto the second horn. It is the most efficient use of the operator’s time.

Reiser says it produces sausages that are identical in length and weight, making it ideal for producing fresh or cooked sausage in natural casings. Collagen and cellulose casings can also be used on the system. The LPG208 can be easily attached to the Vemag TM203 Link Cutter or Vemag AH212 Automatic Hanging Machine for the highest levels of production.

The LPG208 eliminates the risk of split casings found with the constant starting and braking of linking horns. It handles casings gently during filling as the stuffer pumps continuously in a straight filling mode. Special dividers in the dividing belts reach gently into the casing and separate individual sausages. Even the most fragile sheep casings can be linked without any problems. The long guidance of the sausages through the divider belt ensure extremely high accuracy for the weight and length of the sausage, says Reiser.

In response to ongoing contamination issues in the meat and poultry industries, Cambridge Engineered Solutions, a Rexnord business, has introduced Metal Modular. The new modular-style metal conveyor belt, available in January 2017, is similar in pitch, size, structure and application to plastic modular belting, but practically eliminates food contamination issues.

“For years both plastic and metal conveyor belts have been used on the same poultry processing lines to take advantage of their associated strengths and benefits,” says Tracy Tyler, Cambridge president and Rexnord vicepresident, food vertical. “Recently, however, several highprofile plastic contamination issues have resulted with older modular belts. Our customizable Metal Modular allows processors to easily replace traditional modular plastic belts with a metal detectable stainless alternative that is far safer for the consumer.”

Cambridge’s variable technology and design for Metal Modular allows it to deliver several unique and proprietary benefits currently not available in plastic or metal belts.

During the manufacturing process, Cambridge can vary spacing across the belt’s width, making it denser and stronger where needed. In addition, three connection points reinforce the steel wires, preventing them from falling into product during processing.

Further customization capabilities allow Cambridge to fabricate Metal Modular to easily drop into a customer’s existing conveyor support beds and insert integrated flights in exact locations.

“As a division of Rexnord, one of the only manufacturers offering both metal and plastic belts and conveyor components, we are uniquely qualified to evaluate and supply the best solution for each customer’s needs,” says Barry Voshell, Director of Global Business Development.

20 | Meat Packing Journal | January~February 2017

www.meatpacking.info

p o rk

v s

p o ult ry

More breast with less staff

Shackle stabilization system

Prime Equipment Group says that it has taken what it’s learned from its turkey version and applied it to chicken, developing the ILBD-2C Yield King In-Line Breast Deboner.

On the chicken processing line, it saves six to 10 people over a semi-automated cone line, and up to 17 from a fully manual cone line – that’s a lot of people. With the difficulties many processors are having in the States finding staff, the ILBD-2C has the potential to solve a lot of problems for processors.

Prime says that the Yield King is an all-new design that totally re-invents automated front-half deboning, saving labor, and delivering the highest yields with a small footprint for any application.

Meyn’s new shackle stabilization system responds to the need for the stable positioning of birds during veterinary inspections, particularly at higher line speeds. In doing so, it further increases the effectiveness of Meyn’s successful range of pan conveyors in combination with line dividing systems, which are designed for different regulatory requirements worldwide.

“Animal welfare and quality are central to poultry processing, and veterinary inspections are essential if the industry is to maintain the trust of consumers,” says Pete van Poorten, product manager for the Evisceration Portfolio within Meyn. “The new shackle stabilization system helps inspectors to examine chickens more easily."

Wing segmenter’s accurate

Turkey/chicken separator

Cantrell, a poultry processing equipment sales and service company, has developed the CWCS-8400 Wing Segmenter that makes accurate cuts while running at high capacity.

The Cantrell Wing Segmenter is capable of processing up to 170 wings per minute on processing line or as a standalone application.

Chicken wings continue to be a huge hit in the USA and now the craze is spreading throughout Asia and Europe.

‘Wing Fests’ bring in thousands of fans, with bars and pubs selling spicy wings by the literal millions.

“Our Wing Segmenter is designed to make all wing cuts in one place,” says Dane Woods, Cantrell’s general manager of sales/service/fngineering.

Consumer demand for ground (mince) turkey and chicken continues to grow, with it now beginning to take off in Europe. Besides customers buying it in supermarket chilled meat display counters to use in meatloaf, burgers, spaghetti sauce, etc, sausage processors are finding customers want a healthier option which ground poultrybased sausages offer.

POSS, a world leader in separation solutions for nearly 40-years, says that it can engineer, design, and build custom turn-key solutions, which can include fully automated infeed and control of your raw material mix.

This then goes through metal detection and into a POSS separator with a range of head setup options.

www.meatpacking.info

January~February 2017 | Meat Packing Journal | 21

p o rk

v s

p o ult ry

‘Hungry monster’ moves 270k sausages an hour

Automated, high-capacity thigh fillet system

A major pork processor in Lincolnshire, England, is handling 2.7 metric tons of frozen cocktail sausages every hour, thanks to a bespoke packing system developed by Ishida. With each cocktail sausage weighing approximately 10g, this equates to an impressive 270,000 sausages per hour.

Tulip, part of the massive Danish Crown Group, is using an Ishida system which comprises both a 24 head and a 14 head multihead weigher from the company’s RV series; the 24 head feeding a thermoformer while the 14 head is operating in conjunction with a vertical bagmaker.

Ishida also supplied the feed system, the gantry for the weighers and a bespoke tray filling system, together with a DACS-W-012 checkweigher for final weight control.

Key to the success of the new line is its ability to manage the high volume throughput with minimal product giveaway, and also its flexibility in coping with a variety of packing and production requirements. After manufacture and frying, the sausages enter a spiral freezer where they emerge at the top and are fed into the packing operation.

It is particularly vital to ensure that production continues uninterrupted, and the system therefore has the ability to divert product for temporary storage, while work is carried out on the line, for example a changeover of pack formats.

Product is then fed back to the weighing and packing system to return the packing operation to full speed.

In addition, the line is linked to another processing and packing line in the factory so that product on this line can be easily switched over to cope with high demand – for example, sales of certain products can increase by anything up to 20 percent when a sunny weekend has been forecast. Centralized control of the line ensures these changes can be carried out quickly and efficiently.

The 24 head weigher is split into 4 sections with six weigh Tulip’s Project Engineering Manager Rob Hunt,, says: "We needed a solution that combined accuracy and speed and the Ishida weighers are consistently delivering minimal giveaway at an impressive consistency.

"We refer to this line as the ‘Hungry Monster’ as it is able to handle nearly anything we throw at it in terms of production throughput.”

At the moment deboned thigh meat is quickly gaining popularity worldwide. Consumers around the globe have begun rating chicken thigh fillets at an equal or even higher level than breast fillets, as a result of its succulent taste. Marel Poultry prepared itself for this trend and created the world's first inline high-capacity thigh filleting solution. With the highest efficiency and consistency, and without the need for manual trimming, thigh bone and knee cap are separated from the meat, in order to supply retail quality thigh fillets.

The inline concept saves considerable labor, says Marel.

Manual shackling or rehanging is no longer necessary, and neither is manual skinning or knee cap removal.

That's because the automated process remains completely inline after the Stork ACM-NT cut-up process. Thanks to the stable, optimized maneuvers, an absolute minimum of operators are needed to check and trim.

The Stork system makes use of five carrousel modules to execute the entire thigh filleting process. From knee joint incision, via skinning and bone extraction to knee cap removal and fillet harvesting, every single task is meticulously performed.

Marel says the techniques used are unique and ingenious, though simple. For example, the system understands the art to remove the knee cap without any meat on it. The Thigh Fillet Harvester succeeds in efficiently scraping a maximum of meat from around the knee cap without putting undue stress on the drumstick. This valuable meat surrounding the knee cap is now harvested together with the A-grade thigh fillet. During the entire process the products are not subject to excessive forces, but they are gently handled, notwithstanding the high speeds.

The Stork Thigh FilletSystem reproduces the work of a skilled manual operator in an industrial way, ensuring retail quality thigh meat. This consistent performance can be achieved for all products entering the system, irrespective of size or quality. It is more stable than manual deboning could ever be, and certainly much faster with highest yield. The final outcome of the inline thigh deboning process is a tasty thigh fillet, a completely finished end product, ready for retail sale and meals.

22 | Meat Packing Journal | January~February 2017

www.meatpacking.info

CONSISTENTLY ACCURATE WEIGHTS. NOTHING MORE. NOTHING LESS. The Vemag Process Check virtually eliminates giveaway, reduces rework, and increases profitability in your chub product. The Vemag Process Check is an inline check-weigher that virtually eliminates off-weights and productgiveaway. Your product weights can be affected by a number of variables, including changes in raw material, lean-to-fat ratios, product temperature, density, and even machine wear. The Process Check communicates directly with the Vemag Stuffer to compensate for those variables, continuously fine-tuning each portion to increase your on-weight percentages. In fact, we’ve developed a spreadsheet that can calculate your annual cost savings with the Vemag Process Check and prove its ROI. Take back your giveway – contact Reiser and arrange a demonstration. www.reiser.com Reiser • Canton, MA • (781) 821-1290 Reiser Canada • Burlington, ON • (905) 631-6611 Reiser UK • Kingston, Milton Keynes • (01908) 585300 2014

Calculate your savings.

Tell us the cost of your raw materials, your current giveaway, and your daily output. We’ll quickly calculate just how much the Vemag Process Check can save you and what your ROI would be.

PORK

V S

p o ult ry

Q& Erik Blom A

D

utch company Meyn is one of the big presenters at Atlanta’s IPPE, with its massive area about as busy as Times Square. MPJ catches up with Meyn’s managing director Erik Blom.

You’ve been with Meyn since 2002 and managing director since 2014. How would you say Meyn differs from other poultry processing equipment manufacturers?

I think the main difference lies in the fact that Meyn has always focused on serving one industry – the poultry processing industry. We aimed to be specialists in that area and I believe we have achieved that. We are then able to leverage that specialized knowledge of the industry in order to develop machinery that is highly innovative machinery.

Our customers also appreciate the fact that we offer complete solutions – not only advanced equipment but also comprehensive after sales service and maintenance. In effect we often act as consultants to our customers. We are not here to simply sell them equipment, but to help them optimize areas such as operational efficiency, ergonomics, hygiene, health and safety, and the treatment of animals.

In your role as managing director, what gives you the most satisfaction?

I think that meeting and indeed anticipating the needs of our customers so that they remain customers is always the most satisfying part of any job. Beyond that, I am proud of the fact that an investigation by Management Team, an independent auditing organization, placed Meyn in the top 10 best companies in the machine and mechanical engineering sector.

I believe this success is based partly on the way in which we promote diversity. I am proud to say that we have a good blend of loyal employees and new blood from 35 different nationalities, and we have

24 | Meat Packing Journal | January~February 2017

a meaningful number of women in management positions. All our employees are expected to assume new responsiblities as soon as possible so that they grow personally and professionally.

And the most headaches?

We have clients in over 100 countries, and legislation can be quite different from country to country. That certainly gives us something to think about.

At the same time, the attention to animal welfare is increasing and this is something we have to be very aware of. Against this backdrop, we developed a revolutionary solution for stunning chickens that uses C02 to minimize bird handling. This is important for the animals but also because the quality of their meat is noticeably better. The more stress an animal has, the tougher the meat.

Throughout the world, over 8.5 billion broilers are processed each year with Meyn equipment.

Do you think the number of broilers consumed will continue to rise or has the world hit poultry saturation?

All the indications are that the consumption of chickens will continue to incease for at least another 25 years. Poultry is the healthiest kind of protein and has the lowest CO2 footprint; it is relatively cheap and there are no religious limitations All these factors are playing a role in the increasing demand for poultry.

We are optimistic that we can keep on growing in this dynamic market. We offer innovative products and services; we have the most extensive sales and service network in our sector and we have a great reputation. We are confident about the future.

Thanks in strong part to China, pork is the world’s leading meat. Do you see chicken ever taking the lead?

It’s difficult to say. While China’s domestic pork www.meatpacking.info

V S

p o ult ry

All photos meyn

All photos meyn

PORK

Above: Meyn CO2 gas stunning units. Above, right: Erik Blom

prices are expected to continue rising, broiler prices are also expected to rise.

White-feathered broiler meat – broilers imported from the Western countries – is commonly used in fast food restaurants and processed products because they are approximately half the price of the locally sourced yellow-feathered broilers.

Consumption of white broilers varies across the country.

Chicken wings and legs are popular consumer products throughout China. Breast meat is not as popular and is about 30 percent cheaper than skinless legs and about 70 percent cheaper per kilogram than wings.

Post forecasts market share for white-feathered broilers to drop to 48 percent in 2016. The drop represents a decrease of 7 percent from February forecasts. We do not believe that yellow-feathered broilers will be able to meet the demand created by decreasing white-feathered broiler supply.

Processing legislation differs from country to country, ranging from animal slaughtering to traceability. With clients in over 100 countries, do you try to go with a one-size-fits-all approach, or treat each country/client differently?

We always treat each country or territory differently.

It’s the only way if we are to meet the needs of our clients around the world. For instance, the US demands a line speed of 140 birds per minute, whereas in Europe we need to deliver 225 birds per minute.

Another example is bird inspection, which differs per country based on local regulation and legislation. In Brazil, the rules state that there www.meatpacking.info

must be one inspector for every 1000 birds, and no process water on the floor is accepted. In the EU, C02 stunning is now permitted, but this does not apply everywhere.

The market demands are constantly evolving and we will keep investing in intelligent solutions according to different international standards. Ideally we would like to provide each client with a individual solution, but for now that is a bridge too far.

Danish Crown’s pork processing plant has a visitors’ gallery, something it’s hard to believe a chicken plant would ever do. Do you think this lack of transparency hurts the poultry industry in the public’s eye?

It certainly has done. But things are changing as consumers become more involved and push for issues such as better animal welfare. More and more consumers want to know where their products are coming from. Our customers – the producers – see the need to make their processes more transparent either through social media, or by inviting the public to see the process with their own eyes.

Meyn strongly supports this and we are practicing the same openness. For instance, we demonstrated and explained our C02 stunning process on Dutch television where we invited the camera’s into our company.

Although the Netherlands is far from being a large country, when it comes to poultry processing equipment its impact on the world’s industry is truly huge. How did this come about?

The Netherlands pursued a determined January~February 2017 | Meat Packing Journal | 25

PORK

V S

p o ult ry

Meyn cut up system - drum and thigh separator

industrialization policy following WWII, with government and education playing a vital role. One consequence is that the country is now a true world leader in the development of agricultural solutions.

Moreover, the Netherlands has always been an outward looking, trading country.

Meyn offers wall-to-wall solutions, but which piece of equipment as been your most successful?

Meyn has established a strong presence within both processes – primary and secondary. But whereas we once focused more on the primary process of arrival to evisceration, we have recently gained much ground in the secondary process too. This encompasses sorting, cut up and deboning. In particular, our solutions for breast deboning, leg deboning and thigh deboning are considered to be the number one in the market.

When designing new equipment do you wait for the industry to come to you or is it research and anticipation on your part?

I would say that it’s a combination of customer demands and wishes, as well as changes in regulations, and the availability of new technologies.

Of course, we are always in close contact with our customers, finding out their needs so that we can respond with solutions that solve their problems.

But at the same time we strive to meet challenges 26 | Meat Packing Journal | January~February 2017

even before those challenges are evident to our customers. That is why we maintain close contact with legislators around the world, as well as universities and NGOs. We are renowned for high levels of R&D investment and this enables us to gain an early awareness of new technologies. This has led to more intelligent solutions in the form of self-monitoring machines and remote diagonostics. Product traceability is another area in which we are very advanced.

When Meyn is designing a plant, how big a part does labor fit into it and does this vary? For example, in India where labor is much cheaper is the plant designed with fewer labor-saving features as opposed to a plant in Australia where labor costs are extremely high?

The design of any plant is configured around customer demands, required capacity, the type of products, and the market to be served. Within this context, the availability and cost of labor is very often decisive for the required level of automation.

Of course, we never forget that our clients’ employees need to be able to work as safely and comfortably as possible. So safety is the key factor when it comes to the design process, and ergonomics are designed into all our systems. Onsite and at our training centers we demonstrate the safe use of our machines. The safety of our clients’ employees is as important as that of our own.

www.meatpacking.info

PORK

Meyn’s ECP machines can run at speeds up to 13,500 bph. While this is a very impressive number, plants can only operate at the speed of its slowest link. So if packaging, freezing, or another plant aspect can’t keep up with the speed, it becomes a moot point. But, do most customers see it this way?

Meyn helps the customer to select a solution that fits their need. Some customers prefer the flexibility of being able to increase production when necessary. Thus they accept some over-capacity on the equipment.

However, both the customer and Meyn recognize the importance of making sure that the complete chain is as efficient as possible.

Can you explain what Meyn’s technology services offer a customer?

The customer is faced with an increasingly competitive environment. A small difference in yield, product mix or logistics can have a huge impact on their finances. But it is often hard for customers to see where improvements and efficiencies can be made, and that’s where Meyn Technology Services steps in.

The aim is to give customers a clear view on the potential opportunities in their process. Our technologists have all the knowledge it takes to deliver a survey that always includes one main objective or focus point. We take this objective as the main focus and use it as the basis for the report.

At the same time, all our clients are supported by competent consultancy, comprehensive after sales services, spare parts, servicing contracts and a 24/7 helpdesk. Our specialists are on the road to work out more complex problems, but a lot of issues can now be solved remotely with remote diagnostics.

Does your survey team find most plants suffer from the same problems or is every plant unique in its problems?

Customers have very specific needs, but we generally find there are four main areas where we can help. One is profitability, where we look for ways to enhance yield and increase capacity, or reduce downtime. Another is product quality. Here we might increase shelf life or improve product presentation.

Food safety is another key area, of course. We can investigate the track and trace process, check the cold chain, reduce cross contamination and generally help customers to ensure a hygienic process.

Finally, labor. We often help customers to reduce manual labor by automation and integration, or we improve worker safety and working conditions. www.meatpacking.info

V S

p o ult ry

Is there one thing in particular your survey teams wished every client would do?

I think we would like to see dedicated operators for each department. Their job would be to check the performance level each day, taking action when the equipment doesn’t perform according to the benchmark.

Which countries does Meyn see as the rising stars over the next five to 10 years?

I’m pleased to say that evidence suggests that all global regions will grow in terms of the demand for poultry processing technology over the next few years. Asia-Pacific will be a real star, with CAGR growth of 5.2 percent predicted by 2020. North America, Europe, and the rest of the world are all predicted to grow by at least 4 percent by 2020, with a CAGR OF 4.7% expected in the US alone.

Does Poland fit strongly into this?

Poland is a big country with a growing economy. As such, we expect the demand for poultry products to grow substantially in the next few years. The fact that we have an outstanding manufacturing plant in Poland means that we are perfectly positioned to take advantage of this.

Most of us remember when butchers and processers couldn’t give away chicken wings, now in the USA they cost more than chicken breast. Do you see any other part of the chicken – now neglected – hitting the same popularity as the wing?

That’s a very interesting question. I think a good example is the chicken thigh. Customers are coming to appreciate the buttery taste of the thigh meat and our development in deboning the thigh is perfectly in line with this trend.

Of course, the popularity of each part of the product depends heavily on regional requirements.

In Europe we consider the chicken feet to be a byproduct, but in China it’s a tasty snack!

The demand for organs such as hearts and gizzards also depends heavily on the region. Some plants consider them to be pet food while others sell them as an end product. Our equipment is increasingly designed to match these highly specific demands.

There is a little nob of meat in a chicken’s back called by some the ‘chicken oyster’. By far it’s the tastiest part of a roast chicken and usually gobbled down by the cook. Could this be the next big thing?

The oyster is indeed very tasty. But harvesting it automatically is not easy. Perhaps I will get our new Knowledge Center to look at this issue again!

January~February 2017 | Meat Packing Journal | 27

c o mm e n t

Trump and circumstance

T

he US election is done, dusted, and over, and hopefully by the time you’re reading this President Donald Trump will have laid out a clear, concise trade and agriculture policy. But I doubt it – not that it would have made any difference if ‘the other guy’ had won instead. While the whole US presidential election process might start in the Midwest state of Iowa, consistently this seems to be forgotten as soon as the last vote is counted.

But what won’t be forgot for a long time is the ugliness of this election from both parties, which has left a nation feeling divided. For those outside the USA and want a better understanding, let me illustrate it with this. My son Max asked around his Marine unit who voted for who. Just back from deployment in the Middle East, you’d think all would have strong feelings regarding their next Commander-in-Chief. Slightly less than 25% voted for Hillary Clinton, slightly more than 25% voted for Donald Trump, and 50% couldn’t stand either and didn’t vote. This was reflected in the States as a whole, with nearly half of all eligible voters not exercising their rights as citizens, feeling uncomfortable with either candidate.

In regards to agriculture, both candidates spoke against the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal, neither gave specifics on how they would support one of the USA’s most important exports, and it was doubtful either could tell the difference between a hog bung dropper and a giblet wrapper.

The two’s biggest difference was that Hillary had a coastal disregard for the “fly-over states” – despite 28 | Meat Packing Journal | January~February 2017

being warned well before the election that this is where she would either or lose. Trump’s team, however, realized that’s where he could harvest votes. In a voters’ map created by the NY Times, Clinton controlled 15% of the US land mass; Trump a massive 85%.

For those pundits whose job it is to stare into crystal balls and make predictions, Trump has made it a huge challenge for them, saying on numerous occasions: “I like to be unpredictable.” Whether you’re a Trump supporter or not, this is not what you want to hear if you’re at IPPE and considering dropping some massive bucks on the latest pork processing equipment to take advantage of China’s $15 billion market for US agriculture products – a market which could soon disappear.

Let’s see what we in the ag industry can expect under President Trump.

Trade war & trade deals: If China and Mexico take offense over Trump’s demands, US farmers could be the ones paying the price. According to London-based Agrimoney, farmers might face “a monumental effort of finding alternative buyers to avoid a backup of agricultural commodities on the domestic market and a collapse in prices.”

Disruption in trade also could hand market share permanently to US competitors on the world market, it said, advising US farmers to “lobby hard for US agricultural exports not to become a victim of the trade battles that appear more likely following Mr Trump’s election.”

US cattle ranchers were hopeful a signed TPP trade deal would lower Japanese tariffs on beef and open Vietnam to US beef sales. Pork producers, too, would have gained, as would have all US grain www.meatpacking.info

c o mm e n t

and soy sales. But, like Clinton, Trump said during campaign stops that the TPP was a bad deal and one that he would renegotiate if it had passed.

If, however, he looks to the UK and Brexit for an example – which he likes doing – he will see that just because one country wants to renegotiate, it doesn’t mean others will play ball.

Farm leaders say the wait puts US agriculture exports at a disadvantage because individual nations are already negotiating better deals and China has its own multi-nation trade deal advancing, which excludes the USA. Trump was elected to get the US economy moving again; finding new customers for America’s agriculture products is a big part of our economic growth.

Trade – requiring trade deals – is what provides the catalyst for this growth.

Asian leaders are pressing ahead with talks on the 16-nation Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, which China has promoted as an alternative to the scuppered TPP. According to The Wall Street Journal, the push to conclude the RCEP underscores the region’s embrace of free trade and pushback against growing skepticism in the US and in Europe. What no US beef or pork exporter wants www.meatpacking.info

to hear is that members of the RCEP include meat producers New Zealand and Australia, along with meat markets China, Japan, Vietnam, and South Korea.

Still, despite ruffling China’s feathers even further with his support of Taiwan, Trump has appointed Iowa Governor Terry Branstad as Ambassador to China. This should be good news for US pork and good news for China as Branstad already has a strong, working relationship with its leaders.

Federal farm bill: No one really knows what a Trump administration will mean for the next that comes up in 2018. The bill, which is the primary agricultural and food policy tool for the federal government, controls such things as farm subsidies and food stamps. Talk around the campfire is Trump’s getting advice from the American Heritage Foundation which opposes subsidies for farmers, stating in a report: “In addition to strong balance sheets, median household income for farming families remains near historic highs.” It can see no reason for tax payers to support supposedly rich farmers.

Environment: The days of the hated Waters of the United States Act (WOTSUS) are definitely January~February 2017 | Meat Packing Journal | 29

c o mm e n t

numbered; Trump has appointed Scott Pruitt, Oklahoma Attorney General, to head the Environmental Protection Agency. Pruitt has already battled WOTUS once, this time he’ll win. This Clean Water Act, if enforced to the letter, would pretty much shut down farming and ranching in the USA. A bit less popular is Pruitt’s stance on global warming and how humans are not affecting it in the least.

COOL: After getting hit hard by the World Trade Organization and hated by the US meat processing industry, country of origin labelling (COOL) is not going to be brought back, no matter how optimistic US cattle ranchers might be that it could be worked into a revamped North American Free Trade Agreement.

As is, US ranchers feel they cannot compete against the growing tide of undifferentiated foreign beef imported into the domestic market. Not only would COOL have given the ranchers some pull against processors, it would also have made sure that only cattle born, raised, slaughtered, and processed in the USA could be exported as US beef.

Strong dollar: According to the USDA and The Wall Street Journal, the US dollar should remain strong through all of next year and possibly into 2018. This will be great news for European and Chinese processing equipment manufacturers who want to sell to US companies, it’s bad news for US manufactures hoping to export. In looking at other currencies such as the Mexican peso and South African rand, while deals might be in place for US meat/poultry exports, the dollar might make this uneconomical. However, Mexican beef exporters must be feeling smug.

Brain drain: While in the past it might have been hard to keep them on the farm after they’ve 30 | Meat Packing Journal | January~February 2017

seen Paris, now it’s after they’ve seen California.

Although normally associated with countries such as India and now Greece, there has been a significant ongoing brain drain of university graduates from the Midwest and other farming states to both sides of the US coast; in particular, California, Oregon, and Washington. Some states, such as Nebraska, have seen an actual negative number of graduates staying. With Trump championing himself as the president for middle America, it will be interesting to see if more university students stay on.

Illegal workers: Trump is backsliding regarding his 2,000 mile wall between Mexico and the USA (for comparison, the Great Wall of China is 5,503 miles long), saying now it will be a combination of a wall and a fence. Either way, for agriculture and American consumers who like low-cost agricultural products, it could be a mistake. On the surface, it’s easy to understand why illegals have become drawn into the crosshairs. For example, my wife is applying for her Green Card. Although British-English is her first language, she has a university degree in engineering and no criminal record, it will still take over a year for processing and cost us well over $2,000 for various background checks and medical exams. Wade the Rio Grande and it won’t cost you a cent and you “don’t need no stinkin’ background checks” (to paraphrase a Bogart film).

And we’re not talking about a few people skating around the law. According to Pew Research Center, there are over 11 million undocumented immigrants in the States. To put that into perspective, that would be like if the entire population of Belgium or Greece packed their bags and snuck into the USA. On one hand, it’s understandable why some people say this is an assault on the USA’s sovereignty, on the other hand it’s a bit strange that these “invaders” are then employed by the occupied. Can’t see that happening it Mongol Horde came knocking.

The USDA states that, “about half of the hired workers employed in US crop agriculture were unauthorized, with the overwhelming majority of these workers coming from Mexico.” In the US meat/poultry processing industry, the majority of workers are immigrants. How many are illegal depends on who you listen to ranging from 5 to 30 percent. As Alabama’s poultry industry discovered a few years ago when its governor got tough on illegals, kick them out at your own peril. There is a lot of work Americans of all colors won’t do. As The Grapes of Wrath author John Steinbeck wrote in the 1930s, there is a “curious attitude toward a group that makes our agriculture successful. The migrants are needed, and they are hated.”

Buckle up buckaroos, it should be an interesting four years.

Velo Mitrovich, Editor www.meatpacking.info

Economic vacuum solutions in the food packaging and proce

Central Vacuum Stations provide precise vacuum management and full cost control

Central Vacuum Stations from Leybold reduce your operating costs and increase food safety!

SOGEVAC Central Vacuum Stations cover the demand of numerous food processing and food packaging applications such as Modified Atmophere Packaging, Thermoforming or Tumbling by increasing the availability of the vacuum service. Central Vacuum Stations provide the essential performance and reliability to succeed under challenging production conditions.

Benefits Modular turn-key vacuum solutions consisting of proven SOGEVAC single-stage rotary vane vacuum pumps ● Covering the demands of numerous small vacuum consumers ● No risk of oil emission in the production area ●

30% y

Energ

High return on investment, excellent price-to-performance ratio ● Energy saving capabilities ● Low cost of ownership ● Space-saving system solutions ● Cycle time reduction due to the buffer volume (infinite pumping speed effect) ●

Economic vacuum solutions for varying vacuum demands in the food packaging and processing industry

saving

Leybold GmbH Bonner Str. 498 · D-50968 Köln T +49 (0) 221-347-0 F +49 (0) 221-347-1250 info@leybold.com

www.leybold.com

Anz_LV_FoodPack_CVS_EN_192x130.indd 1

10.08.16 11:35

T he

E t hic a l

C a rni v o re

The Ethical Carnivore

by Louise Gray

W

e should all know exactly where our meat comes from. But what if you took this modern day maxim to its logical conclusion? What if you only ate animals you killed yourself?

Fed up of friends claiming to care about the ethics surrounding their protein, Louise Gray decides to follow the argument to its logical extreme. Starting small with oysters and fish, she learns how to shoot pigeons, rabbits, and tell good roadkill from bad.

As she begins to reconnect with nature and her own upbringing in the countryside, Louise starts to question modern attitudes to the meat we eat.

a shed. But we can also use technology such as infrared to make sure that even in the dark chickens are warm and comfortable. Secondly compromise: I believe one of the reasons my book has hit a nerve is because we have reached a point where people are uncomfortable with further industrialisation of farm animals. I don’t think that means we can’t have affordable chicken. But it must be more open and prove that even in intensive conditions the chickens are still kept to high welfare standards, for example low stocking density.

After a hunting trip you come to the realization that it’s simply not realistic for everyone to source their own wild meat. Do you think it’s realistic, however, for everyone to learn how animals are raised and slaughtered?

I expect so, yes, but that isn’t going to happen.

While there is demand for meat, industry will continue to provide it cheaply – the challenge is proving it is not cruel or damaging to the environment. In the book I try to explain the pros and cons of large farms and processing plants versus small.

In terms of animal husbandry, a small farmer can claim to know his animals better and therefore take better care of them. He or she is also more likely to use slow growing breeds and run the animals free range. In the same way a smaller slaughter house can claim to know the farmers better, meaning there is more interaction and assurance of high welfare. Workers are more likely to have a range of jobs and gain satisfaction from knowing the farmers and gaining respect from the local community.

Large abattoirs can use the latest technology to improve the welfare of animals, for example installing some of Temple Grandin’s ideas, such as a circular chute. Farmers are also able to invest in the latest veterinary to keep animals healthy.

But, there are risks in both.

The smaller farmers do produce a more expensive product and as you have pointed out that is not affordable for everyone. But I think it is important to support smaller farmers, even if only buying meat occasionally, because we also benefit from a landscape that is grazed by animals and a thriving rural community.

Absolutely and that is the central message of my book. I think it has to be sensitively done as it is a complex and often shocking subject. I would not advocate showing children what happens in an abattoir; it would be too upsetting and they would just turn away. I would instead call for education about the whole farming system so that when children and adults are ready, they can see slaughter or butchery for themselves and then make their own decisions.

In the the West we want our chicken cheap and want to eat it by the bucket, while at the same time wanting to have our poultry raised and slaughter humanely. Is it an impossibility to have all?

No, I don’t think so, because of technology and also compromise. Firstly, technology: In the past we have used genetics to grow chickens with huge breasts that have trouble standing up, never mind breeding. But there are developments in genetics that could produce chickens that grow fast without health problems. Similarly, in the past technology was used to pack as many chickens as possible into

32 | Meat Packing Journal | January~February 2017

If all the industrial farms and processing plants were closed today and only small farms and slaughterhouses permitted, wouldn’t meat then become something only the wealthy could afford?

www.meatpacking.info

T he

Large abattoirs can become very impersonal and I cannot see how workers can remain motivated and engaged when they are doing the same repetitive job day-in day-out. When they are no longer engaged that is when the welfare of the animal and even the people is at risk.

With all aspects of industrial-scale animal husbandry, from salmon to pork, you mention problems with how animals are treated, especially once they enter the slaughterhouse. Do you think if workers were treated with more respect at these large plants, in turn they would show more respect to the animals?

Yes, I think that if you eat meat, you should respect the people who do the hard work to bring it to your plate. No one I spoke to was against cctv in slaughterhouses and I question why it has not been introduced everywhere.

In the past I think that the people who work on the lower jobs in processing plants or the killing halls in slaughter houses were ignored and patronised.

This does not encourage good behaviour and gives people the opportunity to hide bad behaviour.

I think if we praise and respect workers we encourage better behaviour and greater transparency.

Also it is important these people are paid well. By giving them a voice, we enable them to demand a fair wage to do a job well. Again, it comes down to www.meatpacking.info

E t hic a l

C a rni v o re

accepting a slightly higher price for good food. But I’m afraid that is the truth.

You write that NGOs, the health industry, and even the government are all quietly working towards us eating less meat – we just don’t know it yet. Could you expand on this?

I think environmental groups and indeed the government are reticent about asking people to eat less meat because they know it will make them unpopular – and since they rely on votes/ fundraising, they are cautious of that. So, they are encouraging eating less meat in more covert ways.

For example, the Eating Better campaign in the UK is a group of charities working together to encourage eating less meat. It involved the WWF and Friends of the Earth but they prefer to work under this platform than associate the message directly to the charities because they don’t want to seem like they are telling people what to eat.

In a similar way the NHS has published guidelines on eating less meat for health.

I think moves like this, behind the scenes, is changing how we eat in the UK and the US – and its working. Meat consumption is going down and will continue to fall.

I don’t think this is something the industry needs to be afraid of. On the contrary it is an opportunity to open up and respond to demand for high welfare meat that has a low impact on the environment.

January~February 2017 | Meat Packing Journal | 33

Curing conundrum You call it sodium nitrate; I call it sodium nitrite; lets call the whole thing confusing.

Are nitrites a cause of cancer or a boon to good health? Should you use traditional or natural sources, or look into a product whose manufacturer claims it can do all that nitrites can – without any. MPJ gives the definitive guide to this subject

34 | Meat Packing Journal | January~February 2017

www.meatpacking.info

www.meatpacking.info

January~February 2017 | Meat Packing Journal | 35

s o d ium

ni t ri t e

I

t cut across the meat industry last year like a shot across the bow – the UN’s World Health Organization branch devoted to cancer research declared that cured processed meats are a Group 1 carcinogen. This doesn’t mean that it may cause cancer, stated the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), this means it does cause cancer.

From Sydney to Anchorage, Alaska, the media jumped on this. Suddenly, those innocent-looking strips of bacon with your eggs or that hotdog at a game were just as dangerous as working with asbestos, sucking in New Delhi’s smog-ridden air, or smoking a daily pack of high-tar French Gitanes.

And while the meat processing industry and different research groups have claimed that it was “bad science” which led to the report, this could very well become a moot point if consumers demand action be taken – regardless of the facts.

Just how much of a hot potato is this? MPJ contacted over a dozen processing companies ranging from the big to the small regarding their use of nitrate/nitrite and only two responded.

And if you think using “natural” sources of nitrite protects you from the scrum, talk to Hormel which is being sued in Florida for misleading consumers with several deli meat and bacon products.

2015 kerfuffle

L

ast year IRAC cited the independent research organization Global Burden of Disease Project which claimed about 34,000 colorectal (bowel/colon) cancer deaths per year worldwide were attributable to diets high in processed meats. All hell immediately broke out with newspapers stating if you ate processed meat, you’ve just increased your chance of getting bowel cancer by 18 percent.

To put this into perspective, colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer in the world with around 1.5 million new cases diagnosed every year, leading to an estimated 700,000 deaths. If you live in a western country and your colon cancer is caught early enough, you have a five-year survival rate of 92 percent. Good odds? No. Because people are embarrassed about being examined rectally or discussing feces with their doctor, too often the cancer reaches a late stage before it is diagnosed and then it’s too late.

Overall, the lifetime risk of someone developing colon cancer is five-percent. Eating processed food brings it up to six-percent, claims IRAC. Now this is where is gets tricky. The difference between five and six percent is where the batted around figure of 18-percent came from. This did not mean, however, you have an 18-percent chance of getting bowel

36 | Meat Packing Journal | January~February 2017

cancer from processed meats and if you’re already lost, don’t feel bad because the majority of the world press was lost on this as well (see Nov/Dec 2016 MPJ, Processed Meat Reality). We’ll just leave it at this; you’re just looking at a jump between five and six percent – that’s not much and even that small figure is in dispute.

While there could have been other factors involved as well such as a poor diet, lack of dietary fiber, smoking, aging population, obesity, alcohol, other health issues, etc, no one knows because those factors weren’t worked into the statistics. And another factor which was a bit of an unknown as well was the ‘how’ factor; how did eating processed meats lead to this increase? IRAC itself admits that “it is not fully understood how cancer risk is increased by processed meat.”

IRAC noted that the presence of nitrite and some types of amines or amides (formed by the breakdown of protein) in the acid environment of the stomach may result in the production of cancer-causing nitrosamines compounds. Under these conditions then, it determined that ingested nitrate and nitrite is probably carcinogenic to humans. However, the US Environmental Protection Agency and the Center for Disease Controls have not classified nitrate or nitrite carcinogenic, and the CDC says the evidence that nitrite may cause some cancers of the gastrointestinal tract in humans and mice is “limited”. Indeed, the US National Toxicology Program in 2000 completed a multi-year mouse/rat feeding study to test nitrite’s safety. It found that at the levels used by the meat industry, nitrite does not cause cancer.

nitrate-nitrite

A

lthough sodium nitrate is the term most often used by consumers and the media to describe curing salts, sodium nitrite is the curing salt most commonly used. Why the confusion between the two?

Salt containing nitrates was used by the ancient Greeks since at least 850 BCE to preserve meat, with salt-preserved meat going back at least 5,000 years. Nitrate was present originally as a natural impurity in the salts used for curing but, unknown to the users, was a key ingredient in the curing process. The Romans, who learned the art of curing meat from the Greeks, were the first to note the reddening effect now attributed to nitrates.

By medieval times they had figured out that naturally occurring saltpeter (which contains potassium/sodium nitrate) was the key to preserving meat along with plain salt. It wasn’t until the 1920s, however, that German scientists discovered that it was sodium nitrite in the saltpeter which was the key ingredient and were then able to isolate it.

What gets even more complicated is that the true www.meatpacking.info

s o d ium

n ITRITE

WHO and others claim processed meat causes cancer.

active ingredient isn’t nitrite, but its decomposition product, nitric oxide.

Either way you call it, by adding it into meat that was being cured it destroyed the bacteria that can cause deadly botulism and other pathogens.

A side benefit of using sodium nitrite was that a much smaller amount was needed to replace saltpeter, reducing considerably the saltiness of cured meat which had to be soaked to be palatable.

In 1925 nitrite was deemed safe for use in the USA and since then there has been no cases of botulism in commercially cured meats.

What started turning public opinion against nitrates/nitrites was in the 1960s when domestic animals in Norway fed fishmeal preserved with nitrites started dying of liver failure. The problem was traced to a group of compounds called nitrosamines, which formed by a chemical reaction between the naturally occurring amines in the fish and sodium nitrite. Nitrosamines are potent cancer causing agents and their potential presence in human foods became an immediate worry. Fried bacon, especially where “done to a crisp” consistently showed the presence of these compounds. So did hot dogs and so did beer.

The problem in beer was traced back to the flame drying of malt. Brewers altered the process and it eliminated the nitrosamines. In cured meat it was more of a challenged, but then it www.meatpacking.info

was discovered that simply by adding ascorbates (Vitamin C, ascorbic acid, sodium ascorbate, erythorbic acid or others) to the salt cure, it inhibits nitrosation reactions which could lead to the formation of nitrosamines. Problem solved – except it wasn’t in the eyes of the public.

cancer sells

I

f you want to sell newspapers and magazine, get viewers to tune in to your station, or write health bestsellers, push the cancer angle. In the late 1960s, America’s consumers seemed to be experiencing an onslaught of cancer-producing products including: soft drinks containing cyclamates, meat with DES residues, fish with kepone, chicken with PCB, and strawberry ice cream with Red Dye No. 2. When researchers came out in the early 1970s tying nitrites to cancer that was all the public needed. In the USA there were calls for the USDA to ban nitrites. Health blogs still point back to this and claim that the only reason they weren’t banned was that the USDA caved into pressure from big meat companies.

But, another way of looking at this would be to say that saner heads prevailed. Our bodies are subjected to a large amount of nitrites with the majority not coming from cured meat but from January~February 2017 | Meat Packing Journal | 37

s o d ium

n ITRITE

leafy vegetables, celery, and beets, with average servings of all having more nitrite than over 450 hot dogs.

In 1992 Science Magazine ran an article describing how our bodies actually operates its own nitrogen cycle and produces or synthesizes nitrate, nitrite and nitric oxide independent of any foods that are consumed. We need nitrites and have evolved to safely handle the levels of nitrates and nitrites typically found in food.

“The public perception is that nitrite/nitrate are carcinogens, but they are not,” says Dr Nathan Bryanm with the Institute of Molecular Medicine at the University of Texas in Houston. “Many studies implicating nitrite and nitrate in cancer are based on very weak epidemiological data. If nitrite and nitrate were harmful to us, then we would not be advised to eat green leafy vegetables or swallow our own saliva, which is enriched in nitrate.”

are nitrites healthy?

A

nimal studies in the UK showed that a diet rich in nitrates can actually improve cardiovascular health by thinning blood and widening blood vessels, lessening the risk for clots and strokes. Human trials have shown that meals heavy in nitrates can lower blood pressure and improve athletic performance.

So nitrates and nitrites are both good and bad.

No wonder the public is in such confusion.

“Food is extremely complex and contains all sorts of chemical reactions and interactions,” Lawrence Parnes of King’s College London tells MPJ. “When these foods are then consumed and processed by the body, you are adding in a whole new layer of complexity, with reactions taking place both in the short run, and over longer periods. Consequently, it is very difficult to say with complete certainty that X > Y, and often takes significant amounts of research to establish direct causation.

“Confounding factors (variables that might also influence the result) are highly prevalent in nutrition science. For example, the effect of X on one population might be different to another, due to a host of factors. These might be genetic, environmental – eg smoking/alcohol consumption – or even due to differences in age/gender. While there a fewer confounding variables in animal studies, in human epidemiological studies they are highly prevalent. While mathematical modeling does try to account for these factors, they can't be excluded.

“With regard to sodium nitrate specifically, it seems the low intake recommendations are based on a few fairly old studies, one of which was based on childhood development of methemoglobinemia or ‘blue baby syndrome’ due to excess nitrite that was from a contaminated well. However, 38 | Meat Packing Journal | January~February 2017

subsequent studies didn't replicate this finding.

While the studies that processed meats increase cancer risk are fairly robust, its natural presence in fruit and vegetables – which can vary greatly – are associated with positive health outcomes. In essence, it could well be the case that the presence of sodium nitrate alongside other nutrients or food components found in processed meat results in a carcinogenic effect, rather than solely being sodium nitrate. This relates back to the confounding factors I mentioned above,” says Parnes.

natural nitrites

S

o what do you do if you have a product that is used safely in the processing of around 1 billion pounds of meat a year, has withstood numerous attacks on it by various health organizations, but is still under what seems to a cyclical barrage by the media over a 55year period, you give them a ‘natural’ version of the product.

It was discovered that by using concentrated celery juice or powder which is naturally high in nitrates and then adding a bacterial culture to convert it into nitrite, the resulting chemicals are virtually identical to their synthetic cousins. A big part of the American industry uses cultured celery juice. Containing around 15.000 ppm of nitrite, some believe cultured celery juice can be very misleading for the customer when used in nitritefree meats, who would say "nitrites are nitrites".

Pretty much all major and minor players in the US meat processing game now have ‘natural’ versions of their deli meat, hot dog, and bacon products. These are normally sold in a plainer, more home-spun looking package, and at a slightly higher price. In comparison taste tests by MPJ, there is a slight difference in flavor between a company’s traditional and natural product which probably caused by the additional use of vinegar in the natural product. Color, appearance, and texture, however, are pretty much the same.

While the natural nitrates are chemically identical to traditional nitrates/nitrites and perform exactly the same function, the USDA in its wisdom has declared that these products must have ‘Uncured’ on them, along with: “No nitrates or nitrites added.”

All labels that MPJ saw also included something to the effect that there are naturally occurring nitrate or nitrites in the product, with some having this statement more prominent than others.

With many consumers even unsure of what “cured” and “uncured” means – especially those under 30 – this lack of clear information seems somewhat deceitful, even more so when the excuse given is that companies are waiting for labeling requirements from the USDA as to whether or not to be more explicit. www.meatpacking.info

s o d ium

n ITRITE

Another source of nitrites

“If you actually surveyed consumers going out of their way to buy no-nitrate products, they’d be very surprised to learn that there’s plenty of nitrates in there,” said Bruce Aidells of Aidells’ Sausage fame. “It’s very misleading.”

And, because it’s now a naturally occurring product, levels are not as regulated as if it were traditionally sourced. Tests by several consumer groups have shown that “natural” hot dogs can contain more nitrites than traditional.

the lawsuit

C

onsumer Benjamin Phelps of Florida is now suing Hormel Foods in a class action that alleges Hormel meats and bacon products labeled “all natural” are not 100 percent natural, but contain preservatives and process ingredients, contrary to US Food & Drug Administrations guidelines and the laws of Florida.

As frivolous and pointless as this lawsuit might seem, Phelps does have a point. How can you call a concentration of celery juice as a “natural product” if it is at a level next to impossible to obtain by www.meatpacking.info

eating celery at one sitting?

The lawsuit also says, “Over time, Hormel has cultivated and reinforced a corporate image that has catered to this ‘100 percent natural’ theme and has boldly placed this claim on its products, despite the fact Hormel uses synthetic ingredients and preservatives.”

Hold it, the USDA approved Hormel’s label.

A Hormel spokesperson, speaking to Legal Newsline, said "The USDA's Food Safety and Inspection service [FSIS] has specifically reviewed and approved the labels for Hormel Natural Choice branded products, including scrutinizing and approving the 'natural- (and) preservative'-related language.

“We stand behind Hormel Natural Choice products 100 percent. Hormel Natural Choice deli meats are minimally processed and contain no artificial ingredients or preservatives, in accordance with USDA requirements, and that's clearly stated on the package. We are confident that this lawsuit is without merit.”

If by chance Phelps does win, it is a guarantee that every lawyer in the country will smell blood and try to join in on the feeding frenzy. Expect similar lawsuits in every state.

January~February 2017 | Meat Packing Journal | 39

s o d ium

n ITRITE

a real alternative

B

etween trying to come up with “natural” or lower levels of traditional nitrates/nitrites, while fending off questionable reports and media attacks, it’s easy to forget that the entire purpose of adding sodium nitrate/nitrite to food has always been to give cured meat its characteristic pink color, texture, some flavor, and most importantly, provide specific protection against Clostridium botulinum growth and toxin prevention. If a non-nitrate replacement could be found that works just as well, there is absolutely no reason to stay with nitrites.

Spanish company Prosur dedicated 15 years of research to developing clean label solutions that are based on natural extracts to replace conventional preservation methods in meat products. Prosur’s CEO Juan de Dios Hernandez tells MPJ that Prosur’s nitrite replacement product, Natpre T-10 was developed around 2009 to provide protection against Listeria spp, Listeria monocytogenes, E Coli H157, and Clostridium spp. in cured cooked meats.

Third-party, independent studies conducted at the Food Research Institute, University of Wisconsin-Madison, under principal investigator Kathleen Glass, demonstrate that Natpre T-10 can control Listeria monocytogenes and C. botulinum growth in uncured meats.

The challenge test, seen by MPJ, compared Natpre T-10, sodium nitrite, other compounds, eg, sodium nitrite plus sodium erythorbate, and a control with no antimicrobial. It showed that Natpre T-10 performed just as well against listeria and C. botulinum as did the nitrites. The challenge test also showed that the cooked deli meats that were prepared with Prosur’s Natpre T-10 did not contain any residual nitrite, while conventionally prepared meats contained about 90 ppm.

Hernandez says that the product is based on a mix of polyphenols from traditionally processed Mediterranean fruit and spice extracts. He explains that the extracts have high levels of naturally40 | Meat Packing Journal | January~February 2017

Above left: Made with traditional sources of nitrites.

Above, right: Made with natural sources of nitrites.

occurring compounds with antimicrobial and antioxidative capacities. Not only are the extracts responsible for giving the meat a refreshing flavor, they also give the meat its typical reddish color and they offer pathogen protection, without the risk of nitrosamine formation.

“With the economic crisis in 2009, it was the worse time to bring out new products,” says de Dios. “Companies did not want to try something new, they only wanted to stay with what they were familiar with.”

However, thanks to the WHO report there is suddenly strong interest.

In one form or another, humans have been using nitrate/nitrite to cure meat for nearly 3,000 years.

If these curing salts were such a loaded pistol – as WHO states – you would think Europe by now would be an uninhabited continent and baseball parks in the USA would have empty stands. But, as much as continuing research points out the safety of nitrates/ nitrites, there have been – and will continue to be – counterclaims made about their safety.

While MPJ has a huge amount of respect for Hormel and its products, we believe if it goes to a jury trial, the court case may go against Hormel.

This would then send shock ways throughout the industry and reignite the call for nitrate/nitrite to be banned. From the research that MPJ has seen, Prosur’s Natpre T-10 looks like the best alternative.

While Prosur’s solution is already being used in the US and the rest of the European Union since 2009, we are waiting to see it being used in a commercial operation in the UK which could be soon.

According to its UK distributor, Gordon Wicklow, director of Scobie & Junor, there are eight major UK ham/bacon companies who are progressing to trial, and the UK’s leading up-market grocery chain is expressing considerable interest. We will keep you posted with all new developments. www.meatpacking.info

Maximize the life of your frying oil.

DALSORB® adsorbent purifier keeps frying oil clean from: • Off-odors, off-flavors and off-colors • Free fatty acids • Polar compound formation This extends the life of your frying oil, improves consistency of product, and eliminates frying oil discard.

IPPE Booth # B7684 www.dalsorb.com • dalsorb@dallasgrp.com • (908) 534 7800

4 NEW MACHINES 3 UPDATED MACHINES 1 NEW IPPE LOCATION

Plus 6 more ways to increase yields & up efficiencies Prime skinning now improved with Contour Drive on new Chicken & Turkey models

www.primeequipmentgroup.com

NEW BOOTH AT IPPE: C1323 Prime MPJ Jan 2017 - IPPE.indd 1

12/15/2016 11:28:38 AM

bu y in g

germ a n

falling euro makes this the year to go German

With the euro weakening against the dollar and other currencies, now is the time to buy German, that is, if you want equipment that will still be running long after any currency fluctuations end

42 | Meat Packing Journal | January~February 2017

www.meatpacking.info

bu y in g

I

t was 1967. A couple of friends and I were walking home from junior high school in San Diego when Neal let out a yell. “Hey, it’s a BMW!” Neal was a real car nut; I was not. I had no idea what a BMW was, but figured it had to be the parked burnt-orange car Neal was running over to see. Still, as I took a wander over even I could see the difference between it and the Ford my parents drove. While American cars looked bolted together, like made from the parts of my www.meatpacking.info

germ a n

Revell plastic model kits, the BMW seemed to be just one piece. Every curve, every bend flowed into the overall design, with function and engineering paramount.

I hadn’t thought about that day for years until I was at May’s IFFA show in Frankfurt. As I looked at Handtmann’s latest grinder, I could see how the body was formed, how it was given the slightest slant to channel water off during cleaning.

Although it was obvious I was just a tire-kicker, one of the staff came over and showed me how it came January~February 2017 | Meat Packing Journal | 43

bu y in g

germ a n

apart and fitted back together.

I made a joke about how it looked so well made, my grandkids would be still using it. He replied: “They could be. If you want to save money and buy for today, buy Chinese. However, if you want to buy for tomorrow and the day after, buy German.”

This isn’t to say that German engineering is always perfect or on the up-and-up, just look at Volkswagen and its scandal. At times it’s overengineered; it took me forever to figure out how to start a BMW Avis rental car in February. And this isn’t to say that other countries such as the UK, Spain, Italy, and the USA can’t produce quality.

But…there is something about German engineering that no other country can touch.

So what is it that sets German engineering apart?

export driven

T

homas Ott of Handtmann describes it as a “passion for quality” which is what defines German engineering, with Handtmann an example of this. “We have over 60-years of experience producing sausage and meat processing equipment,” and as he says this he takes you over to a display of Handtmann’s equipment over the last six decades. Stopping at first grinder which started it all, he says with pride: “It still works.”

This strong position of German manufacturers of meat processing machinery is based on a long history of butchers and sausage making – Germany has over 1,500 different types of sausages – combined with an equally long history of mechanical engineering and invention. The unique tradition of sausage production led to the development of special machine manufacturing at a very early stage, says VDMA, the German Engineering Federation/Food Processing & Packaging Machinery Association. Many companies in the meat processing machinery industry can look back on decades – and some on over a hundred years – of history.

In recent years, these companies have succeeded in tapping into new markets and understanding structural change in Germany as a challenge. The fact that turnover in the sector has more than doubled in a period of around 15 years speaks for itself. Germany remains the most important single market for meat processing machine manufacturers in the world, and the product diversity and nutrition trends prevailing there repeatedly provide momentum for innovative solutions, says VDMA. According to Beatrix Fraese of VDMA, one out of every three international-trade meat processing machines in the world today was made in Germany.

More are using German production facilities for part of their equipment.

44 | Meat Packing Journal | January~February 2017

“Big companies with big outputs, who run their machines, eight, 16, or even 24 hours a day, they can’t afford to be down. They need the dependability that German equipment offers,” she says.

This thought is echoed by Ulrich Reisacher of GPS Reisacher, a company that specializes in supplying second-hand processing and packaging equipment for a worldwide market. Reisacher knows firsthand on a daily basic how dependable German equipment can be.

“Most German manufacturers ensure that their equipment will maintain value and use by maintaining spare parts long after the machine has been superseded by newer models,” he says. “We refurbish 30-year old machines that I can still get parts for – try that with an Italian company. We build machines in this country to last!”

Overall, around 87 percent of all German manufacturing is for the export market; with food processing equipment it’s around 75 percent.

Germany’s processing equipment manufacturers are dependent on exports. If the quality is not there, neither will be the sales.

USA and beyond

F

raese is involved with around 80 trade shows a year, saying that’s the price you pay being in the export business, but it gives her a unique view on the world

market.

“The USA remains our largest and most important market,” she says, “and is proving to be extremely investment-friendly.”

German exports to the United States grew by 32 percent to 84 million euros, thus reaching an all-time high. The American meat industry is continually investing in modernising plants and expanding capacities. The demand for this machinery has been significantly boosted by the weak exchange value of the euro and this trend is expected to continue through 2017 and into 2018. For American importers, plant technology from Germany is now up to 20 percent cheaper by comparison with 2014.

MULTIVAC is the world’s leader in packaging equipment, with 4,850 employees worldwide and 1,680 employees at its massive state-of-art headquarters/plant in Wolfertschwenden, Germany.

While the USA remains MULTIVAC’s biggest export market, the company has a true global view.

“If we look at the developed countries, such as those in Europe or the USA, we have been able to record satisfactory growth in the past year,” says Hans-Joachim Boekstegers, Director and CEO of MULTIVAC. “This is also the case for Australia and New Zealand. If one looks at the emerging countries, we see primarily on the www.meatpacking.info

mpj

germ a n

mpj

bu y in g

multivac

Clockwise from above: Beatrix Fraese, VDMA; Thomas Ott, Handtmann; Hans-Joachim Boekstegers, MULTIVAC

www.meatpacking.info

January~February 2017 | Meat Packing Journal | 45

bu y in g

germ a n

mpj

Above: Alexander Kult, Hajek/GPS Reisacher Right: Ulrich Reisacher, GPS Reisacher

African continent, but also in South America and Asia, there are interesting opportunities in the development of these markets. The preconditions we find in these countries are however very different.”

According to Boekstegers, it is essential to take the legal, cultural and social aspects into consideration. In addition to this, the time factor often has a different significance to that in Germany.

“You mostly need a lot of patience and perseverance, and you must not forget the human aspects, particularly during negotiations.

Primarily however, it is necessary to have an adequate strategy for entering the market and a realistic appreciation of the outline conditions and timeframe,” he says.

MULTIVAC’s experience has been that they are only successful in countries if they have staff who know the culture and circumstances specific to the country. For this reason, MULTIVAC relies almost exclusively on local staff with expertise.

An example is this is India where many companies trying to enter the market have frequent problems with the infrastructure, energy supply, and lower productivity.

India with its 1.3 billion people is the most populated country on Earth after China, says Boekstegers. “It offers enormous commercial potential, particularly for German investors. We are India’s largest trading partner in the EU – and, like the Indian industry, we benefit from demographic development, increasing liberalization and falling 46 | Meat Packing Journal | January~February 2017

raw material prices.

“On the other hand, commercial ties between India and Germany still continue to be sluggish.

Insufficient legal security, a certain degree of arbitrariness and also bureaucratic hurdles are some of the causes,” he says.

lessons learned

W

hat MULTIVAC decided to do was to enter a joint venture with the Indian LARAON Group. The Group has been successfully established in the market since 1988 and was considered a very suitable partner for the German company.

“MULTIVAC LARAON India Pvt. Ltd. is the perfect symbiosis of German quality and Indian market knowledge. Both sides bring their knowhow, structures, strengths and good name – and benefit to a high degree from this cooperation,” says Boekstegers.

While India, with its huge population, is a tempting target for any exporter, the fact remains that people are very poor in large parts of the country. This has presented a challenge to MULTIVAC as it tries to support its customers in their challenges in regards to cost-effectiveness and presentation at the point of sale.

“First, the facts,” says Boekstegers. “India is still an emerging country. This has significant effects on the infrastructure and buying behavior, even though the middle and upper classes are growing rapidly www.meatpacking.info

bu y in g

and can increasingly afford more. In addition, there are regional peculiarities and requirements.

“The price-performance ratio is also important.

In the shopping markets, consumers are offered a huge range of products, quality and prices, which are not regulated like here in the EU by standards and regulations. If food processing companies want to gain acceptance in the market, they must produce efficiently, introduce and maintain hygiene standards, design their packaging procedure efficiently and bring attractive products to the shelves,” he says.

As with anything, others see different opportunities for German manufacturers.

“China and India are interesting markets, although sales to China are slowing. We specialize in pork and beef and a course China is the world’s largest pork market, with India the world’s largest buffalo/beef exporter,” says Beatrix Faese of VDMA. If you’re in China, however, is there a danger your equipment will be copied?

“There are problems with copying, but it’s not an option if you want to be in the Chinese market,” she says. “The only way is to build your equipment better which makes it harder to copy.”

Poland remains a very important for Germany’s export market in Europe, however France not so much. “German companies do not focus on chicken equipment – the Netherlands and Denmark have that market – and France does a lot of chicken.

“I do not see much potential in the Middle East, there are just too many problems and this is the same for Dubai and the Emirates. German companies have made inroads into Iran, we shall see.

“With Vietnam and Africa, we missed entering their markets. It’s most Chinese companies that sell there.

“While Brazil has political problems, they’re still number one for us in South America, they’re a very important market. Despite the change of government in Argentina, they need money for investment which they don’t have,” says Fraese.

Thomas Ott of Handtmann also sees the biggest growth happening in North America thanks to the current dollar/euro exchange rate. Unlike VDMA, he thinks there are good potentials in the United Arab Emirates and he is especially bullish on Mexico. “We been doing business in Mexico, we intend on doing more,” says Ott.

over designed

I

f German equipment has one drawback, at times it has a tendency to be overdesigned by engineers. For better or worse, the expression “good enough” doesn’t seem to be part of the German vocabulary. One slightly agitated salesperson at IFFA told MPJ that if the www.meatpacking.info

germ a n

engineers back at the office haven’t thought of a change to make every day, they don’t think they’ve put in a full day’s work.

“Yes, we have a problem understanding customers who need a very simple machine,” says Fraese. “These customers have to pay for high solutions that might not be needed.”

“At times there is too much attention to detail,” admits Ott. “Yes, German engineers tend to overengineer.”

But, he adds, compounding the problem is the skills of operators have gone down over the years. “We have to keep asking ourselves, ‘how can we make this machine as foolproof as possible?’.” All Handtmann machines can display 28 different languages and can all be programmed from a central place in the plant, removing the responsibility from the operator. Handtmann equipment is designed, too, to withstand overexuberant cleaning.

Alexander Kult of GPS Reisacher/Hajek, however, believes the correct step forward is to take a step backwards. With the company’s new Thermoforming machine, their goal was to make it as simple as possible.

“Suppliers are always going one direction – making equipment more sophisticated,” he says, “but do the customers want this? When it goes down can they get it back up quickly?

“Each day it seems like packaging gets more complicated. So when there is a problem is it packaging material related? Software? Equipment related? Is it a problem your customer can fix?

In the end this over complication is our fault as manufacturers, we’re the ones who are making it complicated,” he says.

Kult sees his Thermoforming machine being used by small to medium size operators, perhaps in fairly isolated areas and for these companies, he made it so most parts – especially electrical such as relays – can be sourced locally.

“No matter how efficient your stock system might be, if the customer is in Patagonia, Chile, you’re not going to get a part to him right away,” says Kult. “And if your customer cannot pack food because your machine is down, you got a problem.”

According to Kult, another problem that those in the office don’t seem to be aware of is the time it takes for an operator to set up a machine each day to start work – a time that most companies consider off-the-clock.

“When thinking of this Thermoforming machine, I wanted something that someone could come in at 5am and start working no later than 5.30am. I wanted the touch screen as simple as possible, everything simple so the operator will like the machine. Because if they don’t, they’ll do everything they can to sabotage it.

“How can a guy from a university engineering school realize the reading level of the operator who January~February 2017 | Meat Packing Journal | 47

germ a n

helmers

reisers

bu y in g

he’s designing equipment for or what their work day is like? Unless he’s been out there on the floor, he can’t,” says Kult.

According to Kult they got a lot of good feedback at IFFA regarding the new Thermoforming machine. So far they’ve sold two to the USA and several to South America.

tomorrow's workers

O

ne concern that all German companies MPJ visited have is the fact that fewer young people are attracted to the manufacturing and engineering trade.

This is evident when going out on the shop floors and seeing the majority of the workers in the 40s and above – numerous mangers told MPJ that they had difficulties finding young staff.

Handtmann and MULTIVAC are countering this by running very successful training/apprentice programs for young people, with around 100 in Handtmann’s and 30 to 40 in MULTIVAC’s – which adds that the majority stay on after their training program. In all training programs observed, there were just as many women to men. But the fact remains that many young Germans do not like working with their hands (making older 48 | Meat Packing Journal | January~February 2017

shop workers worth their weight in gold). At the university level this is a problem as well with fewer students going into engineering.

With a slow down in the German population growth, university students have more options as to what companies they will work for. Most of the meat processing equipment factories are located well outside major metropolitan centers. While for workers in their 40s and 50s, who appreciate living in more green or countryside areas, this is seen as a bonus; younger people see this as the kiss of social death.

Over the last two years, Germany has seen the arrival of around 1 million refugees from Syria and elsewhere in the Middle East; will this be where the labor pool comes from?

While on one hand, Germany has a history of absorbing refugees and if any country could absorb this many people, it’s Germany. After the end of World War II over a million ethnic Germans fled from the east into West Germany.

But, on the other hand, those coming from the east spoke German and were families. The majority of the refugees who have flooded Germany in the last two years are single young men, few speak German, and many lack an education and/or a cultural understanding that will allow them to fit into German society.

There is one constant in the world’s financial markets – there is no constant, especially when it comes to exchange rates. The world is in a flux right now with the US election results, Brexit, the Italian referendum vote, Russia flexing its muscle, and China coming to terms with its new world status – all of these factors plus thousands more can affect currencies.

But, what appears to be a constant for at least 2017 and perhaps 2018 is the strength of the US dollar, especially against the euro and pound. If your company has ever considered buying Germanmade processing or packaging machinery, you could not have a more perfect time. It won’t last. www.meatpacking.info

THE HAND PULLED LOOK YOU WANT. FAST. Fusion Tech shredders (formerly Cove

Continuous ow

Equipment) produce a hand-pulled look

No cutting

without grinding or cutting — giving you

Tool-less removal of guarding

shredded meat in a fraction of the time.

Conveyors available ROI usually within 6 months

FTIINC.ORG/SHREDDERS 309.774.4275

CUSTOM SOLUTIONS FOR THE FOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRY

Poultry Vision far beyond EC1099

Head-Only Electrical Stunning • • • •

Far beyond EC1099 rules, legislations and EFSA opinions €.0,01 per chicken less expensive than CAS systems The only legaly accepted reversible stunning to date Applicable in lines from 1000 > 14000bph

• • • •

When fully atomated > 99% efficiency Tested by the Wageningen University Improved product quality Only 16m2 + 9000bph

www.dutchvisionsolutions.com | michel@dutchvisionsolutions.com | +31(0) 645 984 199

bu y in g

germ a n

GERMAN products

Price labelling machine with small footprint

Sausage maker relies on scanner

Espera’s ES 5900 fully automatic price-labelling machine presents “a perfect solution” for manual package feeding as well as for integration into an already existing fully automatic production line, says the company.

This stainless-steel machine is ideal for food industry and from what MPJ could see, it really looks like it allows an easy and fast cleaning. With its compact and space saving design the ES 5900 is integrable into the retail industry as well as the industrialized sector. Depending on the customer requirements the ES 5900 can be equipped with up to 2 printers from the top and one printer from the bottom. A 15” color touch-screen monitor enables the intuitive and easy operation of the system. The graphical user interface is designed with easy to use icons, comparable with a smartphone app; the user can learn easily how to operate without having any previous system knowledge.

The ES 5900 offers multiple of functions that meet the requirements of industrial plants. For example, machine users can print automatically a sum label without interrupting the price-labeling process of the machine.

With this function a continuous labeling process is guaranteed, although a sum label is printed in parallel.

Such functions allow machine operators to create an efficient and time saving production process without any time consuming interruptions. Equipped with the latest technology the connection of the ES 5900 to the IT system at customer´s site is possible at any time. In this way a fully network integration can be realized –independent which ERP solution is present at the production site.

Espera, headquartered in Duisburg, Germany, develops, produces, and sells fully automatic machines for product labelling of pre-printed or just in time printed labels by thermal direct or thermal transfer point.

A rapidly growing German sausage manufacturer with two sites and its own butcher shops is relying on a Sesotec Raycon D x-ray scanner to ensure that its products are free of contaminants such as magnetic and non-magnetic metals, glass, ceramics, stones, raw bones, and several types of plastic.

With more than 700 employees, the family-run business can no longer consider itself a traditional sausage craft business. However, the medium-sized company still attaches greatest importance to the quality of its products.

Raw materials are selected with utmost care in order to meet the self-imposed demands for highest quality and perfect hygienic condition of the products. Independent experts on behalf of the German Agricultural Society DLG and food testing institutes regularly test the products and without exception rate them as excellent.

Furthermore, internal standards and the HACCP concept are continuously checked and documented at the highest level by way of the achieved IFS result (International Food Standard).

In production, various technologies are used for quality assurance, including metal detectors as well as x-ray scanners. When the company was looking for a new supplier of x-ray scanners, the Sesotec system convinced with its detection accuracy, reliability, and ease of operation, and the company therefore integrated Sesotec inspection systems in 16 production lines.

Sesotec's Raycon D x-ray scanners primarily are used for the final inspection of packed products and allow highprecision inline detection. Raycon D product inspection systems, combine proven Sesotec x-ray technology with hygienic design and ease of operation, even down to the conveyor belt which can be replaced within two minutes .

50 | Meat Packing Journal | January~February 2017

www.meatpacking.info

bu y in g

Thermoform designed for real world

germ a n

Automatic X-ray

Hajek has designed its new VSM 30 thermoform packaging machine from the ground up to be as userfriendly as possible for both operators, cleaning crew, and local maintenance teams, says Alexander Kult, product manager for Hajek.

Kult tells MPJ that he wanted a machine that could be repaired as much as possible from locally obtained parts to keep downtime to an absolute minimum. In addition, he kept the user level as simple as possible, believing that packaging machines are getting too advanced and sophisticated for processing plant operators.

Food contaminated with plastic or metal objects or insufficiently filled packages result in high costs for food producers because of recall campaigns or compensations.

Bizerba’s XRE_2 130/240 x-ray system is specifically suitable for the inspection of narrow packages with a height of 50 to 240 millimeters and a maximum width of 130 mm. Adjustable guide rails lead the package to the right place within the detector where it is inspected by the x-ray device. Maximum throughput is 800 packages per minute. If a foreign object is detected, the respective package is ejected by an integrated pusher.

The XRE adapts to the product height entered by operators at the user interface.

Cuts cooked products gently

Handtmann for portioning

The GALAN 930 by Magurit Gefrierschneider cuts fresh, tumbelt, tempered and cooked products very gently by its sharp scimitar and circular blades two-dimensionally into cubes and strips, with sizes starting at 5mm (¼“), without any deformation off the product, and without the necessity of freezing the product. These machines due to parallel feeding belts cut continuously and van achieve hourly productions of up to 10to.

For an optimal cleaning of the machine after work the surfaces of the machines are all tapered downwards and allow therewith facilitated rinsing of water and detergents.

Integrates easily into production lines, says Magurit.

The VF628 provides pure power with up to 700 portions per minute and a filling pressure of up to 72 bar, says Handtmann. The VF628 fulfils the highest performance demands of industrial production.

Its versatility can accommodate a vast range of applications: Cooked or dry sausage – whether production involves linking, clipping, grinding with Handtmann’s integrated grinding technology or automation with AL system, the productivity of the VF628 is unmatched.

The innovative engineering featured in the control and drive technology with improved vane cell feed system guarantees the best product results in the most varied fields of application.

www.meatpacking.info

January~February 2017 | Meat Packing Journal | 51

bu y in g

germ a n

Helmers helps pork plant save money

O

ne of the largest meatprocessing plants in Germany operates three shifts a day, seven days a week year-round to process and pack 12 separate ready-to-sell and fresh meat products. Its annual production capacity totals more than 4.7 million trays carrying a total of 2.35 million kg (5.18 million lb) of product.

The plant wanted to optimize its back end to improve palletizing and carton-labeling efficiency.

Many of the processes in this area required intensive manual labor performed by workers cramped into tight spaces. A distance of 150 m (492 ft) between the palletizing and storage areas necessitated the use of trucks to transport pallets, which presented safety and security concerns.

Other challenges arose due to pusher arms in the area, which required a great deal of maintenance and often caused boxes to flip or become damaged.

Though the plant was able to minimize these issues by placing additional workers in the area, the overall line capacity was limited.

The plant had several goals for its back-end optimization project. In addition to overcoming the aforementioned challenges, it wanted to increase 52 | Meat Packing Journal | January~February 2017

throughput to 128 pallets per hour; implement paperless labeling to reduce waste and labor; shrink its equipment footprint; and reduce downtime, manual labor, and maintenance intervals.

Continuing to ensure high product quality, process accuracy, and traceability within the product chain were crucial.

The plant turned to Helmers Maschinenbau (Helmers), a German equipment manufacturer that specializes in designing conveyance, palletizing, and packaging moving systems. Helmers partnered with Intralox to incorporate Intralox’s ARB technology and modular plastic belting into its project proposal. Helmers has been licensed by Intralox to use ARB since 2004; this longstanding relationship has been beneficial for both companies.

“Conveying is our strength,” says Mareike Helmers, “we do not make packaging machinery, other guys can do that better, we do conveying.

We’ve found that the only belt manufacturer who you can get certain belts from is Intralox so that’s who we work with.”

For the project, Intralox created a 3-D simulation of the proposed solution for Helmers, which helped all parties finalize the layout by mitigating the risk of system bugs or failures without incurring the costs or additional time needed to build test loops.

Over one year since it was fully implemented, the ARB solution has met all of the plant’s goals www.meatpacking.info

bu y in g

Mareike Helmers

germ a n

while also enabling many improvements that were not possible with the pusher-arm technology or manual labor. Automation of the line has increased speed (compared to manual labor) and throughput.

The new solution requires very little maintenance compared to the pusher arms.

The ARB system’s gentle handling ensures that the carton stacks, which are four boxes high, remain stable and fully aligned while being transported.

The smoothness of the system enables consistent labeling, making the cartons easier to track, while also allowing the plant to hang multiple lines from the ceiling and double the amount of space it can use for production.

The cost savings the project has generated have been especially impressive. By reducing its manpower needs, the plant has realized annual savings of approximately €1.8 million ($2 million).

That, combined with the roughly €1 million ($1.15 million) saved by replacing sticker labels with inkjet-print labeling, means the plant saves a total of nearly €2.8 million ($3.2 million) every year.

According to Mareike Helmers, much of the company’s work is focused on the meat industry, in particular beef and pork, with a small amount of poultry.

“We are proud to state that everything which leaves our plant in Osnabrück is 100% 'Made in Germany', with the highest quality.”

Smart concept.

THERMOFORMING PACK AG I N G

Hajek Maschinenbau GmbH Grafenweg 21 6971 Hard, Austria sales@hajek-engineering.at A company of GPS Reisacher GmbH & Co. KG

www.meatpacking.info

www.hajek-engineering.at

January~February 2017 | Meat Packing Journal | 53

bu y in g

germ a n

The benefits of investment in state-of-the-art logistics

M

PJ was able to tour Multivac's new Logistics Center at the company’s headquarters in Wolfertschwenden, Germany, just after the state-of-the-art center was put into operation in

2016. It’s amazing.

The building complex, which was constructed to the latest energy-saving standards, has a surface area of 5,400 m² and cost around €11.9 million ($12.77M). Built to an optimized logistics concept, its primary role is to control the supply of spare parts centrally from Wolfertschwenden to the European subsidiaries. Increasingly however, European customers will also be supplied directly from the company’s headquarters.

The complex comprises an automatic small-parts warehouse, a manual large-parts warehouse, a narrow-aisle warehouse with space for storing 3,800 pallets, as well as several workplaces for high-speed picking, each with an output of 390 positions per hour. As regards the supply of spare parts to European customers, separate packing stations have been created to carry out the packaging procedure for large and small parts.

54 | Meat Packing Journal | January~February 2017

The latest warehouse technology and modern logistics structures ensure all the sequences in the process run smoothly, and that they are highly transparent with the maximum possible output.

The small-parts warehouse has a capacity of 20,000 storage compartments, which are capable of being subdivided several times. This means in effect, that there are around 30,000 storage locations for small parts, and that up to 820 bins per hour can be loaded in and out by means of rack handling equipment. The manual large-parts warehouse offers 3,877 storage locations in the narrow-aisle warehouse as well as 480 meters in the small parts warehouse. Up to 75 manual storage operations can be handled per hour.

Items are no longer picked according to the principle of “the person goes to the item”, but on the principle of “the item comes to the person”.

Spare parts and production material are no longer removed by the picker from a static storage location as before, but they are transported automatically from the storage location to the picker. This increases the picking output, accelerates the overall process and reduces the susceptibility to errors.

As soon as the Logistics Center is in full operation, this will ensure spare parts are supplied even more quickly to all 17 of Multivac’s European subsidiaries, and that increasingly spare parts will also be supplied directly to customers. However, customers can already enjoy better availability of spare parts and shorter delivery times. “In future we also want to supply our customers in some cases with quick direct deliveries, and where appropriate, reduce the stock in the subsidiaries and switch increasingly to direct deliveries,” says Volker Starrach, SR Director of Logisitics at Multivac. It is also intended that the internal supply of materials for the assembly of modules and machines at the Wolfertschwenden site will benefit from the new procedures. “As a consequence of the faster and more efficient supply of materials to our production departments, it should also be possible to reduce the manufacturing time for modules and components, and this in turn should have a positive effect on the manufacturing time for all the machines,” predicts Starrach. www.meatpacking.info

Clip Packaging Solutions For Meat and Poultry Products

Solutions that Work

n

www.tippertie.com

The Whole Package.

TIPPER TIE is a world leader in processing and clip packaging systems for the meat and poultry industry.

Our clipping systems provide safe, secure clip closure to all types of sausage and chub-shaped products, as well as bagged and netted products.

-

Full range of bagging systems for whole birds Vacuum packaging models for poultry and deli meats Whole muscle packaging systems Clip packaging solutions from tabletop models to fully-automated heat-seal and clip systems - TTCut fine cutters for emulsified deli meats, hot dogs and sausage

TTBag dual station allows two operators to bag and clip birds simultaneously.

Customers around the world are fully supported with premium quality consumables, spare parts, “Worry Free� technical services and training. www.tippertie.com/poultry Visit Us at IPPE 2017 Booth B4133 January 31 - February 2, 2017 Georgia World Congress Center

TIPPER TIE, Inc. 2000 Lufkin Road Apex, NC 27539 USA Tel. +1 919 362 8811 Fax +1 919 362 4839 infoUS@tippertie.com

TIPPER TIE TECHNOPACK GmbH Wilhelm-Bergner-Strasse 9a 21509 Glinde/Deutschland Tel. +49 40 72 77 04 0 Fax +49 40 72 77 04 100 infoDE@tippertie.com

Consistency, ease-of-use and speed are key benefits to the Rota-Matic vacuum packaging system.

ref riger at i o n

Food Plant Refrigeration

When it comes to freezing products at your processing plant, there are many/ several technologies to choose from. The blast cell is often chosen when offline or off-site freezing is necessary/beneficial for business. Their versatility often leads to misconception, so one must understand the basics to get it right. Randy Peterson, project development manager at Stellar Refrigeration Contacting explains

W

hether your food plant packages frozen orange juice or processes chicken breasts, a blast cell freezer can be used to freeze almost any product. It’s important to understand the common misconceptions, the importance of proper design and how to operate your blast cell.

There are three types of blast freezers: 1. Continuous freezers –The freezers, usually located in production lines, continuously freeze product as it moves along a conveyor belt. Continuous freezers are typically placed before final packaging. Examples include tunnel and spiral freezers.

2. Variable Retention Time (VRT) freezers – VRTs are essentially a hybrid of batch blast and continuous freezers. It is called a “variable” freezer because it can be designed to accept products from multiple production lines at different rates with different freezing time requirements. VRT freezers are very large units that require their own building structure, and are typically located near a production line so that cased product can be conveyed onto them prior to palletizing.

3. Blast Cells – Blast cells are single-load units that typically are used to freeze many pallets of boxed product. Blast cells are usually located in a cold storage room, away from production lines.

Products then stay in the blast cell for a period 56 | Meat Packing Journal | January~February 2017

of time ranging from 24 hours to several days.

Time spent in the freezer is dependent on product composition, airflow and temperature.

A blast cell can be used to freeze anything from raw meat or fish to prepared foods and inedible items like blood products or offal. However, blast cell performance depends heavily on airflow and temperature. Both must be designed for your product.

two blast cell myths

B

last cells are versatile freezers, which makes them ideal for a variety of products. However, blast cells are sometimes used incorrectly because of this versatility. Let’s look at the two most common myths about blast cell freezing.

Myth #1—Blast cells are one-size-fits-all People often think you can just put anything in a blast cell and it will freeze. It will, but blast cell performance and uniform freezing depends on optimized airflow through the product zone.

Fan size and airflow should be engineered not only to an optimal configuration of products on each pallet, but to all pallets in the rack system, as well. The stacking of products on each pallet must be planned and uniform to allow air to move at high velocity through the “product zone.” Pallets should always include spacers between layers of boxes so that air flows across the top and bottom of each box. If spacers between layers are not used, www.meatpacking.info

all photos stellar

ref riger at io n

Above left: Randy Peterson; Above right: frozen chicken breasts

boxes should be arranged in horizontal rows parallel to the direction of airflow, with spaces between each row.

Uniform blast cell loading is also important. In cells where the rack systems are designed with more than one layer of pallets, short-stacked pallets and rows of empty pallets can allow air to short circuit, affecting the performance of the cell.

Myth #2—Room freezing and blast freezing are the same thing Room freezing is placing large quantities of product in a cold room and leaving it there until it freezes. It is NOT blast freezing, because it does not rely on engineered airflow to freeze pallets of product. Some products can tolerate slow freezing without discernible damage to product quality. For most products, a properly designed blast cell will yield better quality products than room freezing.

design

I

f repeatable blast cell performance is important, ensure your blast cell is designed properly from the get-go. Engage an expert to determine the best airflow and temperature configuration for your product.

1. Airflow – Optimize your blast cell’s performance by ensuring the arrangement of product is consistent with the design capabilities of the fans. A well-designed blast cell should be capable of moving air at a velocity greater than 700 feet per minute through the product zone. If there www.meatpacking.info

is too much space above or below each pallet, air will flow around the product zone. The same goes for the vertical spaces behind and in front of the racks when the doors are closed.

Conversely, if there is not enough space for the required volume of air to flow through the product zone, freezing performance will suffer. Usually this is not a problem, but owners should be aware that too little of space for airflow can also affect blast cell performance. Never use stretch wrap to hold pallets together: it blocks airflow and often the wrap comes loose and makes its way to the refrigeration coil, where it can cause problems.

2. Temperature –It is a general rule that the colder the blast cell air, the faster the freezing time.

However, the rate at which a particular product or arrangement of products will give up heat varies.

The characteristics of the product substance, its shape and packaging can all affect the rate at which heat travels from the middle of the mass to the outer edge where the air can pick it up.

Refrigeration systems get more expensive to build and operate as the design temperature drops. In some cases, colder air might not be worth the investment.

operation

B

last cells use multiple fans over many days to freeze product. Minimize the energy your system uses by installing high-speed roll-up doors. This addition

January~February 2017 | Meat Packing Journal | 57

ref riger at i o n

of the fans during this period will reduce power consumption exponentially. Adding variable frequency drives to the blast cell fans can help to minimize blast cell energy use.

maintenance

O

can minimize energy loss during loading and unloading. In addition: Optimizing for airflow – Promote uniform airflow by loading your blast cell efficiently. For example, if a cell has horizontal airflow, fill the first column of the upstream side first, and process to load accordingly to minimize bypass air.

Adding variable frequency drives (VFDs) – Studies have shown that airflow rates can be decreased during the final hours of a blast cycle without affecting freeze time. Reducing the speed 58 | Meat Packing Journal | January~February 2017

ne of the most important blast cell best practices is defrosting regularly.

If frost builds up in the freezer’s coils, your blast cell will stop working. Defrost at the end of each blast cycle to ensure that future cycles can run at full capacity.

Inspect your blast cell regularly to ensure it is running properly. A few things to consider during your inspections are to: 1. Ensure all fans work properly – Most blast cell evaporators have multiple fans. If one fan fails, it affects the ability of the other fans to force or draw air through the refrigeration coil.

2. Check drain pans – Most refrigeration evaporators rely on a drain pan to catch defrost water and funnel it to the drain. Pans are usually heated during defrost cycle to ensure that the water flows and to prevent ice build-up. Regular inspection will catch problems before they become a giant ice floe.

3. Maintain drain pipes – Drain pipes must be insulated and properly heat traced to ensure water flows out of the cold zone and into a drain.

Frozen pipes are expensive to repair and will create problems within your blast cell. Use an ammeter to measure electric current and give your blast cell operator a visual indication that the heat trace is working.

Blast cells can be used to freeze many different kinds of products. However, the performance of your blast cell depends on the optimization of product configuration and airflow in the product zone.

Randy Peterson is a licensed mechanical engineer with nearly three decades of experience managing capital projects as well as the design and installation of industrial refrigeration systems and controls. He leverages operational food industry expertise gained at Dean Foods and ConAgra Foods with technical skills to provide Stellar refrigeration clients with the utmost quality.

More information can be found on Stellar’s found industry blog, Food for Thought, stellarfoodforthought.net. Stellar is a fully integrated design, engineering, construction, and mechanical services firm that provides the industry’s most comprehensive range of selfperformed services, including planning, design, preconstruction, construction, refrigeration, mechanical and utility, building envelop, and total operations and maintenance services.

Visit Stellar’s website at stellar.net www.meatpacking.info

INTRODUCING

APRIL 4–6, 2017 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS USA profoodtech.com

DEFINING FOOD & BEVERAGE

PROCESSING Advances

Knowledge

To Keep You Competitive

That Sparks Innovation

Join more than 6,000 food processing professionals at this new biennial event—the industry’s most comprehensive show!

The dynamic ProFood Tech Conference Program, led by IDFA, will offer a wide-range of educational experiences:

• Visit with 400+ of the world’s top suppliers on a 150,000 nsf show floor.

• Hear fresh ideas and strategies from respected industry leaders.

• Explore the latest in food and beverage technologies.

• Examine consumer trends changing the food and beverage landscape.

• Discover emerging flavors, ingredients and products to meet consumer demands.

• Survey best practices for food safety, business development, resource efficiency and more.

Visit profoodtech.com. Register today!

S u s ta in a bl e

pac k agin g

Sustainable confusion While governments around the world are all clamoring for a solution to the ever growing mountain of waste generated by packaging, the scale of the obstacles appear insurmountable

60 | Meat Packing Journal | January~February 2017

www.meatpacking.info

S u s ta in a bl e

I

n London there are 32 boroughs, ranging in size from 15 to 150 square kilometers. You would think that the boroughs would share things like recycling, with each following the same guidelines – but think again. While all boroughs have been given the same mandate from the government – reduce waste and encourage recycling – how each one is doing it differs from the other. Even the size of the borough-supplied recycling bins differ as does what goes in them.

In a move similar to the USA where some cities have trash police going around and fining people who put the wrong recyclables in the recyclable bin – or have the audacity to throw their hands up in despair and dump all in trash bins – some towns in the UK can fine you up to £1,000 ($1,240) for making that mistake.

As bad as this is for consumers who have to make decisions as to what types of plastic can be

www.meatpacking.info

pac k agin g

recycled, does it need to be washed first, or trying to decipher the near-hidden code or symbols on black skinpack trays, think about the supermarket chain owners who are vexed by trying to follow multiple city, state, or regions regulations.

What makes it even more challenging for the meat/poultry industry is that the basic purpose of its packaging is to protect meat and meat products from undesirable impacts on quality including microbiological and physio-chemical alterations.

Consider the legal ramifications that could happen if a consumer gets ill – or worse – if the packaging fails by allowing: Contamination by dirt (by contact with surfaces and hands)

January~February 2017 | Meat Packing Journal | 61

S u s ta in a bl e

pac k agin g

Contamination by micro-organisms (bacteria, molds, yeasts) Contamination by parasites (mainly insects) Contamination by toxic substances (chemicals) Influences affecting color, smell and taste (offodor, light, oxygen) Loss or uptake of moisture (evaporation or water absorption).

Recycling and sustainability has to take a backseat from the above.

perception vs realities

A

ccording to a recent Pew Research Center survey, most Americans have access to some sort of recycling program. However, the rules, practices and community norms around recycling vary considerably from place to place, contributing to dramatically different local recycling levels.

The study comes as US recycling rates, after rising for decades, have plateaued. The Environmental Protection Agency says that in 2013, the most recent year for which it has data, Americans recycled or composted 1.51 pounds of waste per day, a figure that’s changed little since 2006.

And, just because recycling programs exist doesn’t mean everyone with access to them actually recycles. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, only around 35 percent of the 254.1 million tons of municipal solid waste generated in 2013 was recovered through recycling or composting. California has the highest amount of recycling at nearly 55 percent, while Oklahoma was at the opposite end with less than 4 percent recycling taking place.

So, even you as a supermarket chain demand that all meat products come in sustainable packaging, there is an excellent chance it won’t be recycled.

Looking beyond the overall recovery rates, local recycling programs vary considerably in which materials they accept and the degree to which residents must separate different materials. The Pew Research Center survey found that 59 percent of the public believes that “most types of items” can be recycled in their community; another 26 percent characterize their options as “some,” and 13 percent say only a few types of items can be recycled where they live. And the people who live in places that strongly encourage recycling also are more likely to say that most types of items can be recycled there.

But the perception that communities recycle “most types of items” obscures the markedly different rates at which various types of waste actually are recycled or composted. According to Pew’s analysis of the EPA data, 99 percent of leadacid batteries (the sort found in cars and trucks), 62 | Meat Packing Journal | January~February 2017

88.5% of corrugated cardboard boxes, and 67 percent of newspapers, directories and the like were recycled as of 2013. On the other hand, only 28.2 percent of high-density polyethylene containers (such as milk jugs) were recycled, as were 13.5 percent of plastic bags and wraps and only 6.2 percent of small appliances. Three-fifths (60.2%) of yard trimmings were composted, but just 5 percent of food waste was.

A challenge for many community-based recycling programs, especially in recent years, is that they’re losing money. Recycling, at root, is a commodity business, and lower prices for wood pulp, aluminum, oil (out of which plastics are made) and other feedstock commodities are pushing many recyclers into the red. That, in turn, has forced localities to pay recycling companies to accept their collected bottles, cans and paper, when just a few years ago the recyclers paid them.

walmart's plan

W

hile Walmart Stores has been working toward a zero waste goal for at least a decade, the company is now hoping to motivate its suppliers to consider sustainability and recyclability in product packaging. By targeting three main areas – packaging optimization, sustainable sourcing, and increased recycling – Walmart is looking to help make packaging more sustainable, while continuing to keep product prices low.

At the recent Sustainable Packaging Summit, Walmart released its Sustainable Packaging Playbook, a guidebook for suppliers to improve packaging sustainability.

Walmart says the Playbook can help suppliers reduce cost, as well as improve their Sustainability Index score. Developed in collaboration with The Sustainability Consortium (TSC) – an organization dedicated to improving sustainability of consumer products – the index gives Walmart suppliers the opportunity to highlight important steps they are taking toward sustainability. It also helps suppliers improve their Index score by demonstrating a quantified environmental impact reduction through those measures.

Zach Freeze, director of strategic initiatives for sustainability at Walmart says the hope is to keep it simple for suppliers. The playbook, he says, states the direction and the priorities at Walmart so suppliers, merchants, and everyone on the procurement side can understand a bit more about what’s important for sustainable packaging. The book also gives them details and examples on what that means.

“For us it’s kind of a re-ignition of sustainable packaging and bringing it back into focus for people in our business and the buyers who provide www.meatpacking.info

S u s ta in a bl e

pac k agin g

The first rule of packaging is to protect the product inside

products to us,” Freeze says. “It just clearly states what we mean by sustainable packaging and what we are encouraging them to do.”

The playbook deals with sustainable sourcing by encouraging suppliers to maximize recycled and sustainably sourced renewable content, while enhancing the health of the materials they use in their packaging.

Walmart also wants suppliers to optimize design by finding ways to reduce unnecessary packaging materials, such as extra boxes, ties, or layers, while still protecting the product. “Don’t over pack. Don’t under pack. Get it right,” he says.

The Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR), the national trade association representing companies who acquire, reprocess and sell much of the postconsumer plastic processing capacity in North America, thinks the Walmart’s focus on packaging sustainability will impact both suppliers and the retail industry.

“We think it is huge. We think it’s going to have a huge impact on brand owners on the way they design their packages,” says Steve Alexander, executive director of APR. Alexander says the guidelines also will impact the plastics recycling industry as demand increases.

By Walmart placing the guidelines on packaging, there’s going to be more demand for materials from the recycling industry, which then will go back through the chain and encourage more collection materials, he says.

“So for us, we think this could have a very large www.meatpacking.info

impact—not just on sustainability in general, but certainly for the plastics recycling industry; we think this could go a long way toward not just enhancing the demand for recycled products but also encouraging brand owners to design their packaging so they are compatible with recycling,” he says.

how to achieve

I

n a report by Ebro Color of Germany: ‘Sustainable Packaging: Why Should We Care?’ the company lays out what it considers the key points in designing sustainability into packaging.

According to Ebro Color, for some time the central mantra of the sustainable development movement has been 'reduce, reuse, recycle'. In other words, we should try to reduce the amount of materials used, extend the life of a product by reusing it and, once a product has reached the end of its useful life, recycle its component parts.

When we are thinking about the design of a product, including any form of packaging, one further key objective we can add to this list is 'rethink'. Rethinking means that the designer of a packaging product should constantly be looking at alternative, more sustainable materials and designs.

Key areas to address during the design process are: Maximizing water and energy efficiency January~February 2017 | Meat Packing Journal | 63

S u s ta in a bl e

pac k agin g

Without sacrificing the performance of the finished product nor making its cost prohibitive, the designer needs to aim to reduce the amount of water and energy used in the manufacturing process. This can only be achieved by changing the materials used or the production process.

Minimizing materials Reduce the volume of primary materials used in the production process by using the optimal combination of primary, secondary and/or tertiary materials. Where possible, reducing the total amount of packaging used with any product is a sensible design objective. However, the view once prevalent that all packaging is wasteful and should be avoided is misguided for a key role of packaging is to protect goods from damage and prevent spoilage. The industry body, the World Packaging Organization, argues that far more wastage from spoiled goods would result from not using packaging than any materials that would be saved by not using it. The goal, they say, should be 'right size' and 'right strength' packaging rather than none at all.

Using recycled materials The greater the volume of recycled materials that can be designed into the manufacture of packaging, the more the industry's environmental footprint can be reduced. Recycled materials generally use less energy that virgin materials and, therefore, produce less greenhouse emissions.

Using renewable materials Designers should aim to maximize the use of materials from renewable sources, such as paper, card, and bio polymers, in the manufacture of packaging products. Tetra Pak are experimenting with manufacturing high-density polyethylene made from renewable feedstock.

64 | Meat Packing Journal | January~February 2017

Minimizing risks associated with potentially toxic and hazardous materials Packaging containing potentially toxic or hazardous materials poses a risk to humans and eco-systems. The design process should identify such materials and, where possible, remove them from the product. Where this is not possible, appropriate control systems need to be put in place.

Designing for transport More efficient use of transport for distribution can make a significant reduction in energy consumption. Packaging needs to be designed in ways which reduces weight, maximizes the use of space and uses bulk packaging where appropriate.

'Cubing out' is the process of filling a shipping container to its most effective potential. Packaging which has been carefully designed, with thought given to how it is packed in bulk not just as a single item, can be of great assistance with the cubing out process.

Designing for recovery Use recyclable materials when designing packaging and provide consumers with recycling information as opposed to creating packaging made from layers of different materials is extremely difficult to recycle.

Providing the consumer information on sustainability Consumers, particularly those in the industrialized west, are becoming increasingly eco-aware. There is an expectation now that the packaging on the goods they buy should provide clear information on the materials used, including recycled content, and the recyclability and degradability of the packaging once it has been used.

The full report can be read at: www.ebrocolor. com/sustainable-packaging-report www.meatpacking.info

MIP10 75 kW Batch Tempering System

MIP12 150 kW Continuous Tempering Tunnel

For more than 30 years, we have been producing world class microwave tempering systems for the food industry. Let us show you the benefits you can realize from switching over to microwave tempering! www.ferriteinc.com | 1-800-854-1466

PARMA - ITALY

YOU MAKE IT, WE MOVE IT.

TECSAL S.p.A. Via Pattigna - 43014 Felegara (Parma) Italy - Tel. +39 0525 400171 R.A. - Fax +39.0525.400224 info@tecsal.com - www.tecsal.com STAND. B3915

S u s ta in a bl e

pac k agin g

PACKAGing products

LINPAC's Rfresh Elite cuts weight and waste

Meatloaf packaging wins award

LINPAC’s Rfresh Elite tray for meat and poultry is manufactured from up to 95 per cent rPET, which has passed through the company’s in-house ‘Super Cleaning’ system to create a food-safe, crystal clear form.

The Super Cleaning process is a highly visible, challenged and controlled system to produce rPET, while maintaining the highest of food, environment, and quality standards, as well as regulatory requirements. The Rfresh Elite tray consists of a sealant on the mono-material tray flange creating a secure seal that removes the need for the industry standard PE base film. This sealant can be removed in the hot wash process typically employed by PET recycling companies.

As well as being highly recyclable, the weight of the LINPAC Rfresh Elite tray has been reduced which accounts for a significant reduction in the overall weight and carbon footprint of the packaging. The Rfresh Elite tray typically weighs 5 percent less than the average rPET tray, yet retains a strongest-in-class seal strength and improved burst strength.

Lubna Edwards, director of sustainability at LINPAC, says: “Packaging sustainably designed to contribute to a closed loop recycling process is a now a reality but growing consumer engagement with recycling is still a challenge due to localized constraints such as infrastructure, coupled with the need for consumer education.”

LINPAC has recently teamed up with Tesco and Cargill in the UK to deliver a rPET poultry pack designed to reduce food waste due to its innovative, perforated features. The modified atmosphere pack splits into two compartments, allowing consumers to use one chicken fillet and keep one sealed for later.

The pack was developed to meet consumer demand for portion-sized packs.

A home baking packaging made for meatloaf has won a recent award for offering consumers a “host of advantages”.

“Ofen-Fleischkäs – ready for baking@home” from Constantia Flexibles is an aluminum foil container system, manufactured and developed for Ofen-Fleischkäs’ meat loaf products from Rehm.

The tray and lid are made entirely from aluminum foil.

They were specially designed for a pre-cooked meat product in order to enable easy and practical preparation directly in the packaging. The standard tray has a dual function; it protects the product during storage and is suitable for cooking the product in the oven.

This solution also impressed the jury of the Alufoil Trophy and was accordingly awarded an EAFA trophy. Jury chairman Louis Lindenberg, Director Global Packaging Sustainability at Unilever, explained: “This packaging offers the consumer a host of advantages. It is easy to transport, store and prepare. It is hygienic and our tests have shown that it is also easy to remove after cooking.”

The packaging consists mainly of aluminum foil, which offers a high degree of barrier protection, a long shelf life and good thermal conductivity.

As the aluminum foil tray with lid offers all-round protection and is easy to use, the other packing element – the cardboard sleeve – can be used entirely for the branding and marketing as well as for cooking instructions for the consumer.

Richard Berres, regional sales manager at Constantia Aloform, says “Winning an EAFA trophy in the category of User-friendliness with Ofen-Fleischkäs’ – ready for baking@home confirms that aluminum foil containers are an excellent solution for modern, functional and practical packaging.

66 | Meat Packing Journal | January~February 2017

www.meatpacking.info

S u s ta in a bl e

pac k agin g

Move from MAP to Skinpacking As improvements are being made, more and more customers are moving from modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) to Skinpacking, says Nigel Coates, managing director of Leeds Vacuum Formers (LVF).

According to Coates, up until recently, packaging solutions for meat products had remained more or less constant since the introduction of Meat Pod Trays in the 1970s.

The process of MAP was developed as a method of keeping food fresh for as long as possible without recourse to additives. It is achieved by sealing food in a tray that contains a mixture of natural gases in carefully controlled proportions that significantly slow down the process of decay by inhibiting both the process of oxidation and the growth of microbes. The process is dependent upon the effectiveness of the vacuum system that evacuates air from the packaging chamber and the seal created around the tray perimeter to hold in the mixture of gases that have displaced it.

“MAP was very much the only widely accepted method of extending the shelf life of perishables until Skinpacking came onto the scene claiming reduced costs coupled with an even greater extension of shelf-life,” says Coates.

“Production was simplified on the basis Skinpacking removed the need for specialist gases by simply drawing down a flexible top film over the food and vacuum sealing it to the tray. As such, all air from around it is evacuated, meaning the causes of decay are virtually removed.”

The benefits of Skinpacking are plentiful, claims Coates.

An extended shelf life of up to two weeks longer than MAP products; a reduction in the weight of plastic packaging required that leads to significantly reduced packaging costs; no need for an absorbent pad, and because the product is so visible it allows the retailer to display it on the shelf vertically, thereby taking up less shelf space.

Skinpacking was initially limited, but an ever improving development process across both top films and base webs/trays has meant the opportunities for its use are expanding at pace. Even products that were traditionally thought unsuitable for Skinpacking, for example joints and other tall cuts of meat, are now seen as perfectly viable options, says Coates.

www.meatpacking.info

ARMOUR BINS CUSTOMIZABLE STACKABLE

STRONG AS HELL! (417) 237-0129 tahne@bjsassociates.com mhboxes.com January~February 2017 | Meat Packing Journal | 67

p ro d u c t

ne w s

product launches

Skin films for trays

Fast carton accumulator

The new range of KM Skin Top and Base films are extremely versatile, and compatible with all major sealing machines including thermoformers and those that seal to pre-made trays. For form, fill seal machines, KM can supply both top web skin film as well as the thermoforming base webs.

These advanced films, available in 100 and 150 microns, also reduce wastage throughout the supply chain due to excellent seal integrity; however, this does not impact on consumer convenience which is facilitated via smooth easy-peel opening. In addition, KM can supply a costsaving option with films that will seal to mono-APET and mono-PP trays without a PE layer.

WSI Global, a leading manufacturer of finishing equipment for the carton converting, liquid packaging, and corrugated industries, announces its EdgePack, a semi-automatic carton accumulator that dramatically increases production speed and worker safety over manual case packing.

The EdgePack is situated after a folder/gluer in a carton converting line, where it turns the folded and glued carton shingle onto its folded edge. It maintains the counted kick and lines cartons up for tray or slipsheet case packing, all while eliminating the repetitive wrist motion required by packers in manual case packing operations. It can increase production speed up to 30% and reduce staffing demand.

Box chilling system

Pre-pack food mover

Linde’s ACCU-CHILL automated box chilling system can accurately and quickly chill meat, poultry, seafood and other perishable foods directly in their packing boxes with CO2 snow produced on demand. Designed and built to meet USDA requirements, the ACCU-CHILL system chills with high process repeatability from box to box.

For mixer chilling repeatability, Linde announces new LIXSHOOTER bottom-injection (BI) nozzles, which are easy-to-retrofit and feature advanced hygienic design.

They can rapidly chill ground meat and poultry mixes .

CSB-Automation AG has developed a load carrier system, the CSB –Hang & Move, which optimizes the handling and transport of open trays of pre-packed foods.

Plastic containers are regularly used for the intermediate storage or in-house transportation of these packs.

Loading and unloading by hand requires a lot of manpower while handling the open packs creates hygiene risks. The CSB-Hang & Move eliminates these problems through the use of its Gondola load carrier which the filled trays are inserted into and then ejected from.

68 | Meat Packing Journal | January~February 2017

www.meatpacking.info

p ro d u c t

ne w s

Leg containers

Paint for processors

RPC Sæplast is extending its range of 875 PE containers with the introduction of a ‘leg’ version, available without a pallet board. The new design provides a solution for customers who require complete four-way access. It can be specified with a lid and is also able to be stacked with existing pallet-board versions. To maximize the value of your finished goods you need to ensure that your food products are fresh and safe. The Sæplast PE 875 container is well-established as the best option for the safe and efficient handling of food products and is widely used in the meat, poultry, and animal by-product industries.

Its triple-layered polyethylene construction gives it exceptional strength while still being light.

Burke Industrial Coatings’ Silver Bullet AM is a high gloss, high durability water based epoxy that contains a broad spectrum antimicrobial agent. Once applied, it has the ability to protect the coating surface from over 650 strains of bacteria such as E. coli, salmonella, and listeria as well as fungus such as mold, mildew, and algae. Silver Bullet AM works by disrupting the reproduction and inhibiting metabolism of microbial cells.

BIC’s coatings are heavily infused with 316L stainless steel flake resulting in all the performance characteristics of stainless steel without the cost. BIC’s coatings are both FDA and USDA accepted for meat and poultry processing facilities.

The Chiorino HP System and the New HP Compact DriveTM Conveyor drive belts promote total hygiene!

More easily cleaned than modular or solid monolithic belt types. Less water required.

Higher temperature resistent than other belt types up to 230 degrees F. Cold resistent down to -22 degrees F. Better resistance to harsh chemical cleaning agents.

USDA approved NSF Certified

Visit us at IPPE 2017 Booth #C506

www.meatpacking.info

January~February 2017 | Meat Packing Journal | 69

m a rk in g

ne w s

90% of consumers are open to cooking in packaging

A

recent consumer study commissioned by Bemis, a European market leader in flexible packaging for meat and cheese, found that the majority of consumers in the UK region are open to in-pack cooking with Bemis OvenRite®.

Bemis OvenRite dual-ovenable films aim to reduce food contamination while providing convenient meal options for a variety of markets. In the UK in-packing cooking is being seen as a way of reducing food poisoning due to Campylobacter and numerous supermarkets are coming out with different chicken

products utilizing products such as OvenRite.

The study, conducted by Campden BRI interviewed over 100 meat eaters between the ages of 20 and 64. Here are few highlights: 90 percent of consumers were open to in-pack cooking made possible by OvenRite 90 percent trusted that the meat will cook properly in the package.

Additionally, 91 percent of study participants said they read on-pack directions, making ovenable films both an easily accessible and safe way to cook meat.

Moreover, experiencing Bemis OvenRite, 85% of the consumers confirmed that cooking in the pack would keep the oven(ware) clean, retain the meat juices, tenderize and improve flavor, and avoid contamination of the food and environment.

OvenRite allows for cooking within the original packaging, keeping the meat infused with seasoning and sauces intended for enhanced taste. Packages can accommodate both frozen and fresh meat products, suitable for sous vide applications with the potential for packaging reduction..

Cargill ground chuck chubs

cargill

C

onsumers will soon have a solution to their desire to minimize contact with raw ground beef when preparing meals. Cargill is the first beef producer to offer EZ Peel packaging for ground beef chubs in retail stores across the United States, beginning this January.

The technology, developed by Bemis Company, will be exclusively used for Cargill’s Our Certified ground beef 1-lb. chubs, which is tube-shaped packaging typically recognized for its easy-to-store, economical, freezer-ready and conveniently portioned benefits.

A 2015 Cargill Innovation Study revealed that 57 percent of consumers surveyed wanted better ground beef chub packaging that allows them to open products without touching raw meat. Additionally, the Flexible Packaging Association’s 2015 Brand Value Study reinforced consumer desire for the added convenience, with 60 percent of its more than 2,000

consumer respondents identifying “easy to open” as a top package attribute.

“We know that consumer desires are changing and our team is diligently working to provide innovative solutions to meet these desires.

The new EZ Peel packaging is just one of the latest innovations in Cargill’s ground beef products,” said

70 | Meat Packing Journal | January~February 2017

Katie Blick-White, brand manager for Cargill’s Our Certified ground beef line.

“The traditional chub packaging has not been modified for a long time, so this is the first major change to the packaging in years.

Limiting the need to handle raw ground beef also enhances the food safety aspect of meal preparation.” www.meatpacking.info

m a rk e t in g

ne w s

kosher Modified atmosphere pack

A

beles & Heymann, a New Jersey-based company that has specialized in premium glatt kosher deli for more than half a century, has debuted its new MAP (modified atmosphere packaging) at the 28th annual Kosherfest trade show in November.

According to CEO Seth Leavitt, Abeles & Heymann is the first American kosher provisions company to be using the technology for kosher sliced (beef) deli.

“Modified atmosphere packaging is a way of extending the shelf life of fresh food products. The technology substitutes the atmospheric air inside a package with a protective

gas mix. The gas in the package helps ensure that the product will stay fresh for as long as possible,” explains Leavitt.

“Typically, modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) increases the shelf life of processed meats from between two and four days to two to five weeks. We are pleased to be using this cutting edge technology to deliver the freshest products possible to consumers,” he adds.

In addition to the new MAP technology, Abeles & Heymann will soon introduce a new logo and package image for all Abeles & Heymann products in 2017.

The company transferred produc-

tion of its vast array of deli items to a state-of-the art facility in northern New Jersey, partnering with the manufacturing arm of an Israeli Kibbutz, (Ma’adany Yehiam, makers of the Hod Golan line of turkey products) to produce over 1,000 tons of highest quality glatt kosher deli a year.

Best known for their hot dogs, Abeles & Heymann also makes beef fry, kishka, cervelat, knockwurst, cocktail franks, salami, corned beef and pastrami. They also offer chipotle franks, a line of uncured hot dogs with no nitrates or nitrites added, as well as uncured hot dogs with reduced fat and sodium.

mcdonald's expands Fresh beef Organic kosher

mcdonald's

T

H

oping to reverse a trend which sees the fast foot giant rated last in customer survey’s regarding quality, McDonald’s Corp. is expanding its fresh beef test to 75 locations in the Tulsa, Oklahoma area.

The 75 locations will now get quarter pound burgers made with fresh beef cooked when ordered, including the Quarter Pounder with Cheese, Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese, Quarter Pounder Deluxe and Bacon Clubhouse Burger.

“These burgers are hotter and www.meatpacking.info

juicer than our previous quarter pound patties and are made with fresh, 100-percent North American beef that’s simply seasoned with a pinch of salt and pepper,” says McDonald’s chef Chad Schafer.

As reported in MPJ, McDonald’s started testing fresh beef patties at restaurants in the Dallas market earlier this year. Although there is some worry about the danger of pathogens in the fresh meat, other chains such as Wendy’s has been doing it for years without any problems.

he Hain Celestial Group says it will expand Empire Kosher Poultry's product lineup, to meet the growing demand for kosher poultry products that are also natural and organic. There is a huge demand in the USA for kosher labelled food. While less than 2 percent of the US population is Jewish, 41 percent of all food has a kosher label.

New product offerings will include Chicken Bites, Chicken Nuggets, Chicken Schnitzels, Anytime Party Wings and Buffalo Style Chicken Wings.

The products will be natural, minimally-processed and free of artificial ingredients.

Jeffrey Brown, CEO at Empire Kosher, says the poultry sourced for the products will be raised on family farms that utilize humanely-raised standards and will be free of antibiotics.

January~February 2017 | Meat Packing Journal | 71

d is t ribu t i o n

Ne w s

S truckers are finding it harder and costlier to get insurance coverage for their fleets, as a wave of record payouts over accidents has pushed insurers out of the market, reports The Wall Street Journal.

The number of people killed in accidents involving large trucks fell 20% in the last decade, according to the US Transportation Department.

But a string of so-called “nuclear” verdicts, where juries award tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars to families of accident victims, have made the financial consequences of those crashes harder to predict.

At times the payouts have made little sense, with juries awarding much, much more than would be required for a lifetime of medical

pra

‘Nuclear’ verdicts hitting truckers hard U

care or in the case of death, than the deceased would have earned in several lifetimes.

Unwilling to bear the risk of large settlements and verdicts, Zurich Insurance Group AG and American International Group dropped cover-

age of most for-hire fleets earlier this year. Both insurers – two of the biggest underwriters – still cover trucks operated directly by retailers and manufacturers, brokers say. Other insurers hiked premiums anywhere from 10% to 30%.

Beef roads to get overhaul

A

ustralia will be investing AU$100 million ($75M) to improve roads that are critical to the beef industry in Northern Australia.

The fund will make targeted upgrades to key roads necessary for transporting cattle. This will underpin the future viability of the cattle industry which has long been a pillar of the northern economy.

The Government says is committed to realizing the potential of northern Australia.

Moving cattle in the north, from farm gate to market, involves some of the longest land transport distances of any Australian commodity.

Land transports costs in the northern beef industry comprise up to 35 percent of the market price of livestock. The long distances raise costs and increase risks – floods and seasonal road closures can isolate producers from markets for extend-

ed periods of time. This investment will improve the productivity and resilience of cattle supply chains in northern Australia.

The Fund will rely on the CSIRO’s state-of-the-art logistics modelling, which for the first time looks at the whole cattle supply chain – every farm, road, stopover, port and processing facility in the country.

The modelling allows analysts to test different scenarios, such as

72 | Meat Packing Journal | January~February 2017

how sealing a road will influence transport times and costs. Using this approach, targeted upgrades that improve one road ‘link’ can strengthen the entire supply chain.

These improvements will also benefit other road users, boost regional communities and improve the profitability of a range of businesses – including pastoralists, livestock transporters, processors, and live exporters. www.meatpacking.info

DI S TRIBUTION

ne w s

Transporters held to humane handling rules

U

S Department of Agriculture FSIS is announcing that the Agency intends to hold livestock owners, transporters, haulers and other persons who are not employed by an official establishment responsible if they inhumanely handle livestock when on the premises of an official establishment.

This policy will further improve the welfare of livestock handled in connection with slaughter by ensuring that all persons who inhumanely handle livestock in connection with slaughter are held accountable.

Actions FSIS may take can include warning letters for minor violations, civil action for repetitive violations, or criminal prosecution for egregious violations.

FSIS received a petition from an attorney on behalf of a federally regulated swine slaughter establishment asking that FSIS review its humane handling enforcement policy.

The petition stated that official establishments should not be held accountable when non-employees inhumanely handle livestock on the official establishment premises. This

notice is being published to announce FSIS’ decision to grant the petition and to describe the actions that the Agency intends to take in response to the petition.

FSIS is asking for comments on this decision to initiate enforcement actions against non-employees who inhumanely handle livestock.

Based on the comments received, the Agency intends to update its humane handling guidance materials, as well as the livestock handling instructions to Office of Field Operations and Office of Investigation.

Supply chain benefits with lighter paper

T

he UK Corrugated Packaging Industry is making significant strides to help streamline logistics operations thanks to the introduction of new grades of paper, says the Confederation of Paper Industries (CPI).

Novel technologies allow the reduction of paper weights, while keeping the same strength ratio for stacking purposes. Further advances involve optimizing secondary packs for more efficient palletisation, which can help manufacturers utilize lorry and storage space more efficiently.

Investments in papermaking technology and manufacturing techniques have improved the strength characteristics of corrugated board, providing versatile packaging which not only has the required stacking strength but also product protection in the supply chain, shelf appeal and space efficiency.

Logistics professionals will welcome savings in the supply chain through solutions that maximize storage and can reduce transport costs. Corrugated packaging has www.meatpacking.info

evolved by using the latest available technology in papermaking to improve the strength characteristics of corrugated board.

This focus on maximizing space has resulted in innovation and technological advances by the Corrugated Industry in structural design which has seen a typical reduction in paper weight for a medium fluting grade to 110gsm in 2015 compared to 140gsm in 2008 without affecting the stacking strength.

These efficiencies are set to continue as processes in paper production are improved still further.

Boxes need to be designed to fill trucks from floor to roof. Corrugated can adapt itself to product after product – no other packaging material has this flexibility, which can help businesses maximize their supply chain efficiencies.

CPI’s Director of Packaging Affairs, Andy Barnetson, said: “Papers are stronger and lighter than ever before, optimizing material use for pallets can also make significant space savings. Structural design modifications to minimize stress on

the packs when being stacked, lifted and carried are rigorously tested.

“There is a certain compromise that has to take place so part of the industry’s approach is to consider the whole supply chain, using the technologies available to make the units the best possible fit for both pallet and shelf.”

January~February 2017 | Meat Packing Journal | 73

B ac k page

Q& JAN ARCHER A

J

an Archer is president of the National Pork Board. Along with her husband Jack, they are the owners of Archer Farms located in Goldsboro, North Carolina. Besides raising hogs and helping young people in 4-H, Archer operates Archer Consulting, an enterprise that provides personnel training to the pork industry.

generations removed from the farm and are unfamiliar with how food is raised and grown today in the United States. We do have a great opportunity and responsibility to help educate consumers on how pigs are raised. I encourage anyone who has questions about how pigs are raised to ask a pig farmer, engage in the social media conversation on Facebook or twitter using the hashtag and key words ‘#realpigfarming’, or visit www.porkcares.org to learn more.

You’re not only president of the US National Pork Board, but also a pig farmer raising 28,000 weaned pigs annually, and you grow soybeans, hay, etc. What makes you proud about being a farmer?

In North Carolina grocery stores you’ll see just about every part of the pig in the meat case except the squeal. How did pork become such an important part of the North Carolina diet?

I’m proud that the efforts of myself, my family and my employees serve to demonstrate the ways in which we live the 6 ethical ‘We Care’ principles.

We care for our animals, we produce safe food, we provide our employees with a safe workplace and treat them with respect, we value and care for our natural resources, we do everything in our power to protect public health and we work hard to make our communities a better place to live. Farming has always been a noble way of life. I’m proud to be part of that tradition.

Do you think most Americans have a clue as to how meat and produce make it to their dinner plates?

Most consumers are at least two or three 74 | Meat Packing Journal | January~February 2017

The pig is an extremely versatile animal and there is a bit of a renaissance underway right now as butchers become increasingly innovative in meat cutting. The tried and true cuts remain – ribs, ham, pork loin, tenderloin, chops, bacon, etc. But new cuts are being developed every day. The Southern states has a long tradition of using every part of the pig in their diet. It’s a testament to their innovation and frugality. That cuisine is experiencing a “moment” right now and chefs as well as home cooks across the country are doing exciting things with pork cuts that while well known in the South, are new to other parts of the country.

Hurricane Matthew really hit North Carolina hard in October, how big of impact has the flooding had on the state’s pig industry?

www.meatpacking.info

b ac k page

The state of North Carolina is ranked No. 2 in hog production in the United States, with over 2,100 farms raising pigs. The vast majority of those pig farms faced tremendous challenges caused by the storm, specifically in eastern North Carolina.

Fortunately, the damage caused by the storm has been relatively minimal and the pork industry continues to work tirelessly to protect hog farms, animals and the environment.

We lost about 3,000 pigs during and immediately after the storm. In addition, the pork industry has worked closely with the State of North Carolina to mitigate the risk of pollution during extreme weather events such as Hurricane Matthew.

Several of Smithfield Food’s east coast plants were closed for a short period of time in October due to the extreme flooding, disrupting hog movement and operations. They have since returned to full capacity.

Could you explain how the National Pork Board operates, in particular the Pork Checkoff program?

The National Pork Board is responsible for Checkoff-funded research, promotion and producer and consumer education, and shares this information with its pork producers and the public.

Through a legislative national Pork Checkoff, the www.meatpacking.info

National Pork Board was established in 1985 as part of the Pork Act. The program is overseen by the United States Department of Agriculture with its 15 board members chosen by the United States Secretary of Agriculture, based on nominations received from the Pork Act Delegate Body.

The board's activities are funded by a requirement that pork producers invest $0.40 for each $100 value of hogs sold. With these funds, the Pork Checkoff supports national and state programs in advertising, consumer information, retail and foodservice marketing, export market promotion, production improvement, science and technology, swine health, pork safety and sustainability and environmental management.

The 1987 National Pork Board campaign ‘Pork: The Other White Meat’ has to be one of the top advertising slogans of all time. Do you think it still shapes people’s opinion of pork?

‘Pork. The Other White Meat’ has a 90 percent recognition level among US consumers and it continues to be our heritage brand, used heavily with dietitians and nutritionists. The message of lean, nutrient-dense protein resonates well with consumers focused on eating healthy. As our consumer target market has changed throughout January~February 2017 | Meat Packing Journal | 75

B ac k page

the years, our current brand “Pork Be Inspired” has helped bring pork’s brand position, or inspiration, to a higher, emotional level that allows us build on our target’s enthusiasm for pork and enjoyment of cooking.

Will it always be an uphill battle for the pork industry going against poultry as far as health benefits go, i.e., lower in fat?

I would hope not, as pork has tremendous health benefits as compared to poultry. Today, Americans can enjoy six cuts of pork that have less fat than a skinless chicken thigh. In fact, the popular pork tenderloin has the same amount of fat as a skinless chicken breast.

Pork is a lean, naturally nutrient-rich source of protein that is familiar and accessible to many Americans. A 3-ounce serving of pork is an “excellent” source of thiamin, selenium, protein, niacin, vitamin B6 and phosphorus, and a “good” source of riboflavin, zinc and potassium. Pork is also naturally low in sodium.

In the U.S. the bacon industry goes from strength to strength, with even some of the big companies such as Hormel producing wonderful smoked speciality bacon. Are pigs being raised differently to accommodate this industry?

Overall, most pork on the market today is raised as traditional, commodity product. We do have several niche producers that are raising pigs to meet a specific market request, such as antibiotic free or raised outdoors, although that is a very small percentage of the total pork available on the market.

What many restaurants, retailers, and processors have realized is there is great opportunity in innovating new cuts or finding new ways to feature traditional cuts of commodity pork in the marketplace. An example of that is pork belly right now.

The price of pork bellies plunged to a seven-year seasonal low this fall – according to the United States Department of Agriculture while US farmers produced 3 percent more than a year ago. With an abundance of bellies and lower prices, chefs are taking notice at all levels in the marketplace. We are starting to see items on the menu, not only in white table cloth restaurants but also in fast-food restaurants, featuring pork belly in addition to bacon. There is a truly love of the belly and bacon with consumers.

On the international scene, Korean shipping giant Hanjin has gone bust, which left ships stranded at sea for some time. Is this affecting the pork industry’s ability to get product to customers?

76 | Meat Packing Journal | January~February 2017

At this point, all global traders are watching to see how this affects global trade. Of course, the pork industry in the US is concerned about product flow to our valued customers. And, that product flow is always impacted by issues of transport, whether it be trucking, rail, flight or sea. It is imperative that we deliver the product we promised and continue to be a reliable supplier. The National Pork Producers Council and US Meat Export Federation work on these issues with our government and foreign importers.

In the U.S. do you see value-added and/or restaurant meals becoming more important for the pork industry, or are most people comfortable grilling some pork chops or doing a pork roast?

According to Technomic, Inc.’s 2015 Volumetric Assessment of Pork in Foodservice, pork continues to be the fastest-growing protein in foodservice and has held that position since 2011. In addition, at supermarkets, fresh pork sales increased 1 percent in pounds sold in 2015, keeping fresh pork the fastest-growing protein at the meat case.

With an abundance of pork coming into the marketplace, consumers will have a great opportunity to purchase it at restaurants and at the retail meat case.

According to the USDA, Mexico, Japan, and China are upping their US pork buying. Where do you see the big markets to be in the next five years?

Central America also has been an emerging and important destination for US pork exports as the US pork industry has focused on market development and value-added promotions. However, exports in volume to Mexico, Japan and South Korea were below last year during the same time period.

Development and relationship-building programs are working toward regaining lost market share due to the West Coast port slowdown, ongoing competition and currency challenges. The China market will be the big wild card, as they have been increasing their imports of pork from many nations; the US will fight for their share. The Chinese production cycle suggests that they will continue to be in need of pork for the short term.

The National Pork Board recognizes the great opportunities for consumption of pork outside of our borders. In mid-November, the Board of Directors approved a budget based on market conditions and the need for both domestic and international marketing.

You’re at a BBQ. There is offered beef brisket, chicken, or pulled pork, which would you choose?

What would I choose? Pulled pork, of course!

www.meatpacking.info

e v en t s

e v ent s

IPPE takes place in Atlanta this month. It is bigger than ever before

2017 31 Jan-2 Feb IPPE Atlanta www.ippexpo.com

23-25 May VIV RUSSIA Moscow www.vivrussia.nl

15-17 March VIV ASIA 2017 Bangkok www.vivasia.nl

29 May - 1 June Meat Tec Milan www.ipack-ima.com

18-20 April INGREDIENT MARKETPLACE Orlando, USA www.marketplace.supplyshow.com

06-08 July VIV TURKEY 2017 Istanbul www.vivturkey.com

20-23 April SLOW FOOD SHOW Stuttgart, Germany www.messe-stuttgart.de

19-22 September PROCESS EXPO Chicago www.myprocessing.com

8-11 May FOOD SAFETY SUMMIT Rosemont, Ill, USA www.foodsafetysummit.com

For more events, go to www.meatpacking.info/events

www.meatpacking.info

January~February 2017 | Meat Packing Journal | 77

C O n tac t s

Velo Mitrovich

Rhian Owen

Editorial

Sales

Velo Mitrovich

Jim Robertson

Editor +44 1442 780 591 velo@meatpacking.info

James Chappelow

Technical Editor james@meatpacking.info

Jack Young

Head of Sales +44 1442 780 593 jim@rebymedia.com

Josh Henderson

Account manager +44 1442 780 594 josh@rebymedia.com

Jim Robertson

SUBscriptions Meat Packing Journal is a bimonthly magazine mailed every January, March, May, July, September and November. Subscriptions can be purchased for six or 12 issues. Prices for single issue subscriptions or back issues can be obtained by emailing: subscriptions@meatpacking.info One year: US$49, two year: US$89

Executive

reby media

Jack Young

Reby House

Publisher jack@rebymedia.com

Rhian Owen

Group Editor +44 1442 780 592 rhian@meatpacking.info

42 Crouchfield Hemel Hempstead Hertfordshire HP1 1PA Great Britain info@rebymedia.com

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage or retrieval system, without the express prior written consent of the publisher.

Meat Packing Journal ISSN 2054-4677 is published bimonthly by Reby Media, 42 Crouchfield, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, HP1 1PA. Subscription records are maintained at Reby Media, 42 Crouchfield, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, HP1 1PA. Meat Packing Journal and its Editorial Board accept no responsibility for the accuracy of statements or opinion given within the Journal that is not the expressly designated opinion of the Journal or its Editorial Board. Those opinions expressed in areas other than editorial comment may not be taken as being the opinion of the Journal or its staff, and the aforementioned accept no responsibility or liability for actions that arise therefrom.

78 | Meat Packing Journal | January~February 2017

The content of Meat Packing Journal is subject to copyright. However, if you would like to obtain copies of an article for marketing purposes high-quality reprints can be supplied to your specification. Please contact the advertising team for full details of this service. Meat Packing Journal is printed at Buxton Press Ltd, Derbyshire, UK.

Editorial advisory board Meat Packing Journal is advised and guided by an editorial advisory board formed of leading professionals and researchers

Jorge Ruiz Carrascal University of Copenhagen Fred W. Pohlman University of Arkansas Ian Richardson University of Bristol Graeme Rolinson Marel

www.meatpacking.info

CANTRELL

A Better Approach to Parts, Equipment, Systems & Solutions.

Vacuum Transport System Our PC-based and touch-screen operated systems are an economic way to transport items and aid in keeping your plant clean while reducing labor and water usage.

Count on Cantrell for innovative and reliable equipment, parts, systems and solutions.

Moving forward

Wing Segmenter CWCS-8400 Capable of segmenting up to 170 wings per minute into two or three precise segments on a processing line or as a standalone application, reducing labor, water and energy consumption.

US Patent No. 8,517,805, US Patent No. 8,641,487, US Patent No. 8,702,480 and US Patent No. 9,078,452

together‌ always.

Come visit us in Hall B #5719

Modular Picker CMP-36 The CMP-36 Modular Picker is designed to efficiently remove the most hard-to-get feathers, and features ease of maintenance and cleaning.

1400 Bradford Street Ext. | Gainesville, GA 30501 p: 770.536.3611 | f: 770.531.0832 | 1.800.922.1232

www.cantrell.com

Visit us at IPPE booth B8087

For Your Next Project Contact Us at:

BANSS America Corporation 7680 Universal Blvd, Suite 380 Orlando, FL 32819 Tel: 407.930.3554 | Fax: 407.930.3558 Email: info@banss.de | BanssAmerica.com Banss America Corp is a wholly owned subsidiary of Banss Germany GmbH