Chapter 3: Animal Products

1. Chapter 3: Animal Products • Chapter overview: • Chapter 3 reviews the history, availability, and processing of animal products, including: • composition and contribution to the diet • trends in consumption of animal products • preservation and safety of food products • grading of animal products

2. Primary Nutritional Reason for Consuming Animal Products: Protein • Relatively high amounts of protein as compared to grains and vegetables • High biological value (quality) of animal protein • Good to excellent ratios of dietary essential amino acids, such as lysine

3. Composition of Selected Products:

4. Nutritional Concerns Expressed about Animal Products: • Amount of fat (caloric density) of animal products • Level of saturated fat in certain animal products • Concentration of cholesterol in animal products • Incidence of protein allergy and lactose intolerance

5. FDA Required Labeling: • Serving size and servings per container • Per serving: total calories, calories from fat, and grams of fat, protein, carbohydrate, fiber and sugars • Percentage of the RDA per serving for each of the nutrients listed above plus: vitamins A, C, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, and minerals calcium and phosphorus

6. Typical Methods of Food Preservation: • High temperature • Pasteurization kills spoilage and pathogenic organisms (1864 – Pasteur) • Longer temperatures and times can sterilize foods • Low temperature • Refrigeration or freezing inhibits microbial growth

7. Typical Methods of Food Preservation: • Dehydration • Air drying • Chemical preservatives • Inhibitors of organism growth such as salt, sodium nitrite, and propionates • Bactofugation • Removing bacteria from liquids by centrifugation

8. Typical Methods of Food Preservation: • Environmental preservation • Sealed or evacuated containers, generally linked to one of the treatment methods listed • Low pH • Fermentation or acid addition inhibits microbial growth • Irradiation (or cold sterilization) • Use of low-level ionizing radiation doses to pasteurize or sterilize

9. Food Safety Regulation: • Who: Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) of the USDA maintains responsibility for food labeling and safety • How: Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) procedures and performance standards

10. FSIS - Essential Elements of Control: • All state and federally inspected food plants must have an HACCP program • Plants must have written sanitation standard operating procedures (SSOP) • FSIS uses Salmonella detection on raw red meat and poultry as a control standard • FSIS uses E. coli tests on carcasses as verification of process control (fecal)

11. Steps in Developing an HACCP Plan: • Identify potential hazards likely to cause illness or injury • Locate steps in the process where there is an opportunity to prevent food contamination • Set limits on the process that will ensure safety • Monitor and measure the process and keep records • Pre-establish corrective actions in case of a failure

12. Specific Meat Preservation Techniques: • Curing - coating, immersing, or injecting meat with agents that preserve meat, generally done now to impart desired flavors; example agent: salt • Smoking - combining smoke and heat to destroy bacteria and dehydrate the product surface • Canning - thermal processing followed by packaging in sealed containers (Appert)

13. Pasteurization of Eggs and Milk: • Eggs for liquid sale (for example: to be used in food service) are generally treated at 140 degrees F for 3.5 minutes • Milk is generally pasteurized in an automated flow system through a grid maintained at 161 degrees F with a 15 second transit time

14. Grading Animal Products: • Grades of animal products are based on chemical, physical, and sensory characteristics • Grades are generally a quality guide to the customer and not a direct indication of safety • For example: a quality grade of beef is derived primarily based upon intramuscular fat content

15. Egg Grades and Grading: • Grades are determined by evaluation of internal and external quality of the egg • Internal quality determined by “candling” includes consideration of size of air cell, shape of yolk, and absence of foreign bodies such as meat or blood spots • External quality includes shape, cleanliness, and integrity of the shell

16. Egg Grades and Size: • Grades are: AA, A, B, C • Grade is independent of size • Size categories are based upon weight per dozen • “Large” size eggs are are the most common in the grocery store and weigh 24 ounces per dozen

17. Grading Milk Products: • Milk grading reflects a different evaluation than meat, egg, or wool grading • Milk grades do reflect the sanitary care taken in on-farm production of the product • Unlike other animal products, milk producing farms are inspected regularly and must comply with very specific UDSA code

18. Grading Milk Products: • Farms in most US states produce milk for either Grade A or B sale • But, products manufactured from milk may fall under a grading system that is separate from the farm grade • Fluid milk is graded A only • Butter may be graded AA, A, or B • Cheese may be graded AA, A, B, or C

19. Grading Meat Products: • Carcass grades for red meat fall under two differing grading systems: • Yield or cutability grading: evaluating amount of external and internal fat versus amount of lean muscle; higher grades are generally leaner • Quality grading: evaluating the intramuscular fat quantity; higher grades are generally fatter

20. Meat “Safety” versus “Quality”: • Inspection of meat products for wholesomeness is mandatory • Grading of meat products is optional