Some important changes in the Australian sheep meat processing industry
D. L. Hopkins A B E , E. S. Toohey B , K. L. Pearce C and I. Richards DA Australian Sheep Industry Cooperative Research Centre, Armidale, NSW 2350, Australia.
B NSW Department of Primary Industries, Centre for Meat Sheep Development, PO Box 129, Cowra, NSW 2794, Australia.
C Murdoch University, Division of Veterinary and Biomedical Science, South Street, Murdoch, WA 6150, Australia.
D Meat and Livestock Australia, 23 Kyabra Street, Newstead, Qld 4006, Australia.
E Corresponding author. Email: David.Hopkins@dpi.nsw.gov.au
Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 48(7) 752-756 https://doi.org/10.1071/EA07393
Submitted: 7 December 2007 Accepted: 7 April 2008 Published: 20 June 2008
Abstract
In the last 5 years there has been a dramatic increase in the adoption in the Australian sheep meat processing industry of electrical technologies designed to streamline processing and improve product quality. Part of this change was initiated by an Australia-wide audit of lamb tenderness in 1997–98 and the development of a program to establish an eating quality scheme for sheep meat across Australia. Critically, these initiatives coincided with the development of new ways of administering electrical currents to either bodies or carcasses. Underlying this new approach is the electrocution of carcasses individually on segmented electrodes in a dose responsive way with electricity that has short pulse widths and lower voltages. This paper documents the pivotal factors which have contributed to this level of industry adoption and which has seen 14 abattoirs install the new technology. Of these abattoirs only one previously had any form of stimulation and these abattoirs represent more than 70% of the throughput of sheep and lambs on a tonnage basis per year in Australia.
Acknowledgements
The changes in the sheep meat industry outlined in this paper have been achieved through the combined efforts of many people from several different research and development organisations in Australia and with funding from Meat & Livestock Australia and the Australian Sheep Industry Cooperative Research Centre. Paul Keane from Argus RealCold, Pty Ltd, played a key role in the commercial implementation of the new electrical technology.
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