Influence of harvest processes on pork loin and ham quality

The purpose of this study was to determine the specific effects of extending the interval between dwell time and the duration of scalding on pork quality attributes. Sixty-four Duroc × Yorkshire pigs were randomly assigned to a 2 × 2 factorial treatment arrangement. Treatments included extending the dwell duration from 5 to 10 min and extending the scald duration from 5 to 8 min. All carcasses entered the cooler 50 min after exsanguination. At exsanguination, blood was collected for three 1-min intervals and then for a final 2-min period. Temperature and pH of the LM and semimembranosus muscle (SM) were measured at 45 min, and at 2, 4, 6, and 24 h postmortem (PM). Hunter L*, a*, and b* values were determined on the LM, SM, and biceps femoris (BF). Purge loss was measured on the SM, BF, and the sirloin end of the loin. Drip loss was measured in duplicate from LM chops after 1 and 5 d of storage. Warner-Bratzler shear force (WBS) measurements were determined on LM chops aged 1, 3, 5, and 7 d PM. Over 99% of the collected blood was obtained during the first 3 min after sticking. Carcasses scalded for 8 min had greater (P \u3c 0.05) semi-membranosus 2 h temperature (28.8°C) than carcasses scalded 5 min (27.3°C). An 8-min scald process resulted in longissimus dorsi chops with lower hue angle and greater WBS values than the 5-min scald process. Increasing dwell time from 5 to 10 min resulted in biceps femoris chops with greater hue angle and loin chops with greater WBS values at 3 d PM. Harvest processes did not significantly affect subjective quality scores, Hunter L* values, purge or drip loss. Lengthening the duration of dwell and scalding may result in a more rapid PM pH decline. Reducing the duration of scalding may lead to increased time for manual removal of hair. Because of differences in facilities, it is recommended that individual facilities monitor dwell and scald durations to determine how to best minimize time of entry into the cooler

Industry Perspective on Food Safety -More Questions than Answers

Food safety concerns know no global boundaries. Information is disseminated daily, and even hourly via Internet, which describes concerns ranging from E. coli 0157:H7 in American beef to Listeria monocytogenes in Greek feta cheese. According to the CDC website (2002), an estimated 1.4 million cases of salmonellosis occur annually in the United States with an estimated 500 or more fatal cases each year. Although these numbers are rather staggering, Hedberg (2001) indicated that pork or pork containing foods were implicated as the source for only 3% of salmonellosis outbreaks reported by CDC from 1990-97. Sarwari et al. (2001) indicated that serotypes impacting human illness may not correlate as well as expected to those found in animals. There remains the question of variable virulence between types of Salmonella spp., which might cause one to reconsider treating all Salmonella as equals. Investigations into virulence of specific strains of Listeria monocytogenes and Campylobacter are being conducted as well.</p

Effect of Environmental Factors on the Frequency of Fatigued Pigs and Mortality Rates at a Commercial Abattoir

The objective of this study was to identify weather and transportation factors that increased the incidence of fatigued, injured, and deceased pigs per trailer load. A total of 14 variables including temperature-humidity index, density of trailer, and week of transport accounted for variation in percentage of defects per trailer.</p

Influence of harvest processes on pork loin and ham quality

The purpose of this study was to determine the specific effects of extending the interval between dwell time and the duration of scalding on pork quality attributes. Sixty-four Duroc × Yorkshire pigs were randomly assigned to a 2 × 2 factorial treatment arrangement. Treatments included extending the dwell duration from 5 to 10 min and extending the scald duration from 5 to 8 min. All carcasses entered the cooler 50 min after exsanguination. At exsanguination, blood was collected for three 1-min intervals and then for a final 2-min period. Temperature and pH of the LM and semimembranosus muscle (SM) were measured at 45 min, and at 2, 4, 6, and 24 h postmortem (PM). Hunter L*, a*, and b* values were determined on the LM, SM, and biceps femoris (BF). Purge loss was measured on the SM, BF, and the sirloin end of the loin. Drip loss was measured in duplicate from LM chops after 1 and 5 d of storage. Warner-Bratzler shear force (WBS) measurements were determined on LM chops aged 1, 3, 5, and 7 d PM. Over 99% of the collected blood was obtained during the first 3 min after sticking. Carcasses scalded for 8 min had greater (P This article is from Journal of Animal Science 84 (2006): 178–184. Posted with permission.</p

Pre-harvest handling defects and measures to alleviate them

Pre-harvest handling defects in pigs are defined as defects that occur either during transportation or during the lairage rest period prior to harvest at the processing facility. These defects include pigs that become injured, stressed/fatigued, or die. Furthermore, defects have economical implications, with higher labor costs in the packing facilities and lost revenue for producers, and of course, animal welfare concerns by the entire swine industry. It has been estimated that dead and non-ambulatory pigs cost the US swine industry between $50 and$100 million each year (Ellis et al., 2003). These defects are a result of multiple stressors that are imposed upon the animals during the marketing process in an additive manner (Ritter et al., 2010). This paper will detail some commercial studies that were conducted to determine the factors that influence pre-harvest handling defects so that measures to alleviate the pre-harvest handling defects could be developed and implemented