Meat packing is the process of killing, processing, and packing animals into meat for distribution to retailers. Safety and hygiene are important to prevent disease and contamination. The industry has faced criticism for sanitation issues, animal cruelty, and worker abuse. Most countries have government standards, but some areas may have inadequate regulations.
Meat packing is the killing, processing and bulk packing of animals into meats for distribution to retailers such as supermarkets. The wholesale meatpacking industry purchases the animals from farms. Meat is considered to be the meat of pigs, cows, lambs and sheep. Meat from chickens, ducks and other poultry is not considered meat; not even fish is considered meat. Meat packing is a worldwide industry that may or may not be inspected and controlled by government agencies, depending on each location.
Safety and hygiene should be major concerns in meat packing as disease and contamination of meats can occur under unsanitary conditions. Since meat is the meat of slaughtered animals, it must be kept cold as soon as possible after slaughter, so as not to spoil. Proper refrigeration and freezing are critical in the meat industry.
The first recorded commercial distribution of frozen meat dates back to 1874. The meat was shipped to England from the United States. Chicago remained America’s largest meatpacking region until the 1920s. In the early days of the meat industry, packing plants had ice-chilled rooms to store meats. Cattle loader Gustavus Swift is credited with developing railroad car cooling systems using ice. This made it possible to ship meat long distances by rail before the invention of electric refrigeration systems.
Meatpacking plants may specialize in a certain type of meat or product. For example, some commercial meat packers pack, process and distribute only organic meats. Organic meat comes from animals that are not given antibiotics or growth hormones. Governing bodies are formed to regularly inspect farms that raise animals for organic meat. Other packing companies only export frozen meats or only process one type, such as sheep meat from New Zealand.
The meatpacking industry tends to have a lot of critics. Sanitation issues, animal cruelty, and worker abuse crop up from time to time. Diseases such as the mad cow epidemic in the beef industry occasionally occur in beef plants. Critics of the meat industry have complained of low pay for migrant workers and for butchers who are burned, cut and lose their fingers.
Most countries have at least some government licensing, employment and inspection standards, but these may be inadequate in some areas. Those who have opposed meat packing practices in some parts of the world have protested to try and change conditions. Some governments have responded with closer monitoring and inspection procedures.
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