As the COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak makes its way across the country, food processors are asking an important question: how do I prevent a confirmed case from showing up in my food processing plant?
That’s a question every food processor, from the largest in the country down to the local butcher shop, should be asking.
Escherichia coli (also known as E. coli) is the bitter enemy of ground beef and fresh produce processors — and finding ways to prevent E. coli contamination is important.
You only have to look at the recent news to see how damaging E. coli contamination can be to the reputation (and bottom line!) of a company.
More and more large food service companies, like McDonald’s and Wendy’s, require the meat in their beef patties to be treated with a citric acid spray to reduce or eliminate bacteria in the product — putting pressure on meat processors to find ways to effectively and efficiently treat beef trim pieces.
Meat processors that adapt to include a treatment spray on trim pieces will benefit greatly from getting ahead of this new processing trend.
The problem arises in that most trim pieces are frozen in blocks. Spraying the outside of the blocks isn’t enough to meet the treatment requirements set by the food service companies. Only one side of a few pieces of trim are treated.
In order to effectively treat all trim pieces, the frozen blocks need to be broken back down into their original pieces without cutting or grinding, so as to avoid re-labeling requirements set by the USDA.
So, what’s the best solution?
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