Cleaner beef
that extracts more blood from beef, makes it cleaner and lowers pH
levels.
G&C Packing of Colorado claims to have created a new treatment that extracts more blood from beef, makes it cleaner and lowers pH levels.
The proprietary "rinse-and-chill" slaughter process is said to set a new standard in meat sanitation. G&C was the first meatpacker to use the system, under a license from MPSC another US-based company that developed the system. A second US packer has also has adopted the process.
The process involves injecting the carotid arteries of freshly slaughtered cattle or bison carcasses with a cold sugar-and-salt solution similar to that used in hospital IVs to keep patients hydrated.
G&C officials said the electrolyte solution keeps meat cleaner in two ways. First, it pushes out more of the animal's blood, removing a medium in which bacteria can easily grow. Secondly, it cools the carcass and lowers its chemical pH, which also inhibits bacterial growth.
The result of the process, said G&C owner Frank Grindinger, is meat with reduced or nonexistent counts of potentially dangerous pathogens such as E. coli, salmonella and listeria. The meat also has a longer shelf life because it is cleaner, proponents claim, as well as containing lower cholesterol levels. A fringe benefit of the vascular flushing process is more tender meat, especially in tougher cuts such as chuck and shoulder.
Officials of the US Department of Agriculture, the agency that inspects commercial meatpacking plants in the US, said they allow use of the rinse-and-chill process as an experimental but untested method.
"We can't comment on the process because the company (MPSC) has not submitted any claims about its effectiveness," said USDA spokeswoman Andrea McNally. She said the USDA is prepared to evaluate the system when MPSC compiles enough test results to submit a formal study.
Proponents say the rinse-and-chill method is suitable for smaller meatpackers who can afford to spend an extra six or seven minutes per carcass for the injection process. It is not yet feasible for high-volume, high-speed packers such as ConAgra, Excel and IBP.
G&C's customers range from individual consumers to restaurants in Colorado Springs to retail meat shops throughout Colorado.
G&C charges an additional 3 cents per pound for the rinse-and-chill process, or about $30 extra on the typical $50 slaughter fee for a 1,000-pound cow.
