The development of the slaughterhouse, or meat processing plant, was designed to provide safe meat for the consumer to eat. Meat processors have a difficult job: kill the animal and process the meat in a sanitary way. Conditions were terrible and unregulated in the early days of the industry. As new methods of processing meat were developed and the government began regulating the industry, conditions improved and became safer.
History
Early maps of London show numerous slaughterhouses in the city. They were open-air markets that produced many concerns about public health. Slaughterhouses were evident as early as the sixteenth century and were hidden from public view in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries because of horrible working conditions. Over the years, conditions improved thanks to unions and government regulation. The American Association of Meat Processors had a facility in 1908 called The Chico Ice and Cold Storage Company, and was one of the first places in the United States for farmers to store fresh meat. It was owned by H.K. Eames who, in 1917, added another room with a butcher block so farmers could butcher their own meat. This was the beginning of the modern meat processing plant.
Significance
In 1928, the first American facility was built to provide meat and poultry farmers space to store the processed meat in freezers or coolers. Supermarkets began to rent freezers to store their food. In 1934, a company named Rex Coal and Ice Company was one of the first to offer cold storage and meat processing. In the 1930s, locker food storage companies and meat processing equipment companies formed an association called Frozen Food Locker Manufacturers. It was later renamed The National Frozen Food Institute Supplier Group.
In 1939, the Iowa State Fair grounds had an exhibit of a cold meat storage plant. It had chilling and aging controls that insured quality meat and less spoilage, and trained meat cutters that delivered products customers requested. Curing and smoking services, improved sanitation, and trained meat cutters were some of the added services.
Function
The slaughterhouse is controlled by the type of animals processed and its location. In some places, it is controlled by civil law or even religious laws such as Kosher processing.
After they arrive, the animals are herded into holding pens. Animals are made unconscious by a jolt of electricity up to 300 volts to the back and head. Another method is the captive bolt pistol that stuns the animal into unconsciousness. Yet another way is to use Co2 inert gas stunning. Animals are hung upside down by one leg on the line and cut apart to process the meat. The carcass is inspected by government inspectors for safety. In the United States it is done through The Food Safety Inspection Service, and in Canada through the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
Features
Meat processing houses prevent contamination by using steam, hot water and organic acids to reduce bacterial growth after the meat is cut. The meat is also chilled to prevent further bacterial growth. Often waste products like lard and bone are sent to rendering plants. Sometimes lard is used for production of biodiesel oil or heating oil. Waste is sent to a waste treatment plant. One of the largest slaughterhouse plants in the world is the Smithfield Packing Company in North Carolina. The major American meat processing plants are located in the Midwest and High Plains areas.
Effects
In the 1990s, immigrant and Latino workers became more prevalent in meat processing plants in the United States. Some workers were not legal citizens and did not have proper paperwork. This allowed the companies to pay cheap labor and have poor working conditions. Often, if workers tried to organize for better conditions, they were raided by the Immigration and Naturalization Service. It was part of a program to round up and deport undocumented workers. It was also a way to stop workers from organizing. Conditions in the meat processing industry have improved over the years, but serious problems still exist that must be addressed and corrected.
Tags: meat processing, United States, bacterial growth, Company first, conditions improved