UPDATE: RESEARCH IN THE NORDIC COUNTRIES

by Ole Braathen"'

SUMMARY the same. Some of the countries have large distances between the while other countries The various institutions in the Nordic countries have a much denser animal population. carrying out meat research are described. Their ad- dresses, research budgets, number of employed and The animals, which are in the focus of the Scan- research projects are mentioned. dinavian meat research, are: Pig, cattle, horse, sheep, goat, reindeer and . The research on seal is Quite a few not too important research projects organized by the Ministry of Fisheries at least in arc mentioned in order to give the reader an impres- Norway. Institutions doing research on meat sion of the level at which the research is carried out are not reported. and of the many tasks of a meat research institution in Northern Europe. The different institutions. All except two of the institutions mentioned were Denmark is the first country to be mentioned if visited during the preparation of this paper. It is my you look at the alphabetical order, but it was also hope that this paper may contribute to a better co- the first country among the Xordic countries that operation between the meat researchers working on established food re yearch. The Danish meat research the same or related projects. is, and, has always been, of great importance to the other Scandinavian countries and to the rest of the lnt roduction world. This is also one reason for mentioning so many Scandinavia is the expression used for the coun- of its research activities in this paper. tries Denmark, Iceland, Sweden and Norway. Fin- land is among the Nordic countries and has very close Denmark. relationship to the Scandinavian countries. Name: The Danish Meat Research Institute. Meat research is carried out in many institutions National name: Slagteriernes Forskningsinstitut in these countries. A description of the different proj- Address : Maglegaardsvej 2, DK-4000 Roskilde, ccts of the different institutions will be given later. Denmark. Telephone: 45-03-36 12 00. The organization of the meat research differs be- Total number of employees: 208 corrcsponding to 161 tween the different countries and the size varies from full time employees. the big Danish Meat Research Institute down to the smaller ones. The meat products are very similar. Owned by: Cooperative and Private Slaughterhouses Some of the countries have a surplus of meat and Foundation for the Meat Research Institute and others have to import from them. Denmark is a large The Meat Trade School. meat exporting country, especially known for its Financed by the (no gvernment sup- , and Sweden as well as Finland, exports meat. port ). Finland exports meat and meat products to the Soviet Total budget 1979: US dollar 6 million. Union. From 20,9 million Danish kroner. From cattle 2,6 million Danish kroner. Iceland cxports large quantities of Icelandic lamb, Own earnings: (Contracts, etc. ) : 7,4 million Danish and Norway yearly imports meat. The import to Nor- kroner. way in 1978 was 17000 metric tons. All thcx institutions have several things in common: The research is based upon almost the same animals, "0. BRAATMEN the races and breeds used are almost the same all over Scandinavia and Finland. Director, Norwegian Meat Research Laboratory, Lorenveien 37 - Postboks 96, Refstacl, Oslo 5, Even if the geographic conditions vary from one Norway. Scandinavian country to the other, the problems for the meat industry and the animal breeder are almost Reciprocal Meat Conference Proceedings, Volume 32, 1979.

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The Danish Meat Research Institute is situated in on diarrhoea at weaning. In another investigation the town Roskildc 30 kilometers outside the capital pregnant sows are given a live culture of E. coli in Copcmhagcm, and started its activities October 15th their feed in order to stimulate thcir antibody pro- 1954. ( 25 years ) . duction and the level of specific immunoglobulins iri their milk, in order to give the piglets sufficient anti- The managing director is A Toft Fensvig and the bodies to protect them against diarrhoea. executive staff is Svend Vahlund, Borge Sorensen, Stem Schneider and K. B. Madsen. The institute works in close cooperation with the Danish state veterinary institutions and laboratories. The research is based upon permanent project groups. One group is, for instance, working on prob- MEAT QUALITY. lems concerning pig slaughtering. This group is as- sembled of people having knowledge of pig slaugh- Progeny tests. tering, meat quality, transportation, stunning, etc. The work on controlling the color of the meat and The different proposed research programmes are pHmeasurements is being supervised by a member ccdculatcxd and prioriated. Proposals are discussed by of the institutc’s staff and carried out in the town a group put together from the industry, from the Horsens. consultative group concerning pig slaughtering and from the management of the institute as well as from Blood groups/enxyme types. the group itself. The relationship between blood groups and en- zyme types in pigs, and meat quality and other prop- Researclz projects. erties is under investigation. A connection between A visitor is impressed by all the research projects meat quality in pigs, the H blood group and the being worked on in Roskilde. The SPF pig production PHI-enzyme-type is found. program gives a great impression. Crossbred pigs, This program is part of the disease prevention and control program. A large crossbreeding experiment with various combinations of Danish Landrace, Large White, Nor- The development of SPF (Specific wegian Landrace, Hampshire and Duroc, shows that Puth oge n Free)-sy*e m . the breed of the boar is of great importance for the meat quality. It is not yet possible to give comments Piglets are taken by caesarean from selected elite as to the properties of all the crosses. breeding so\z~s.It is the plan to continue this activity for some years to ensure that the best breeding mate- Foreign. pig breeds. rial can continue to be used. Meat quality investigations of purebred Hamp- A method for the production of antibodies from shire and Duroc pigs have shown that pigs of these colostrum has been developed in order to prevent breeds have a lower frequency of both PSE- and problems when the artificially reared primary SPF- DFD-meat than Danish Landrace pigs. pigs are being adapted to natural surrounding. Feeding experiments. - SPF health control Feeding with rapeseed meal influenced neither the The Institute ha5 c\tablished a serology laboratory quality of the meat and backfat nor the flavor of for the routine serological examination for Haemo- bacon. An experiment involving rapcxcd cakes with philus parahaemolyticus infections in blood samples. a higher oil content has not yet been completed. An investigation is under way to examine if it is Grass juice influenced neither the color of back fat possible to utilize the same serological method (com- nor the flavor of pork chops or bacon. plement fixation test) for the diagnosis of Mycoplas- ma suipneumoniac infection. PIG SLAUGHTER TECHNOLOGY AND BACON PRODUCTION. Diurrhoea in. piglets. Transport and Iuirage conditions. Two investigations are in progress involving vac- An investigation of the effects of different treat- cination against E.coli-di,irrhoea in piglets. Com- ments of the pigs on the day of slaughter has been mercial vaccination is tested to sce the cffectiveness brought to its conclusion.

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The main results from onc experiment showed that ing plants, the institute has obtained a great deal of pigs exposed to an extremely considerate treatment know how. had a higher frequency of pigs with PSE- meat than The weight and other data registered at the weigh- the normally treated control group. No pigs with ing station arc transferred automatically to the meat- DFD-meat wcre found in the experimental group, fat measuring system. All data from weighing and which had their lairage in thc slaughtcrhouse in a classification are thus printed out together. very short distance from the stunning area.

From these results we must obviously continue to SLAUGHTER TECHNOLOGY recommcwl that pigs arc treated with consideration, Scalcling of pigs but it will still be necessary to employ other tech- niques, too, to reduce the frequency of PSE-meat Canal scalding tanks proved to be very efficient through measures involving transport and lairage both on pigs of bacon-size and on sows. The hairs on conditions. all areas of the rind were loosened. The removal of hairs by a double “Billfred’ dehairing machine has Fceding the day of collection and the length of been found to be excellent. All pigs are well rinsed time the pigs were kept in lairage have a decisivc at the end of the dehairer. in flu en cc on meat quality . The institute is researching a project to reduce the Thc institute has continued the registration of mor- ost of final rind treatment. The kccping quality of tality of pigs during transport and lairage and finds uncured carcasscs and bacon sides has been checked approximately of 1 O/OO. regularly and it shows that pigs treated in a mechan- ical “white scraping” unit has as good a kecping Vehicle design. quality as traditionally treated pigs. A specially equipped pig transport lorry with me- chanical ventilation, having air inlets 6 above the Slaughter line of the future. floor via ducts positioned in double sides, has been The proposals for the slaughter line of the future built and is being tested. have been discussed with a group of bacon factory employees and with slaughter line supcrvisors and Stunning of pigs. the institute. Some of the ideas in the report are under development. The aim of the institute’s work in this area is to combine a complete loss of consciousness with min- The institute has other projects on equipment for imal carcass problems and low running costs. Pre- extraction of the blade bone, automatic splitting of liminary investigations on an alternative method for pigs, mechanical pickle injection, tank curing and a electrical stunning gave results, which were so dis- dry salting machine. appointing, that it was decided in the spring of 1978 Work is also going on in developmcnt of equip- temporarily to discontinue experiments on electrical ment for neck cleaning, ctc. stunning. But new impulses from Holland have in- spired the Institute to reopen experimental work on Utilization of the waste heat from the singeing electrical stunning. The institute is currently eval- oven is done by installing a eomplctc draught uating some possibilities for better electrical stunning proofing kit, which also reduces the oil consumption under Danish conditions. by 10%. Work has also been carricd out on controlling the Blood collection. temperature of the water for scalding with an ac- curacy of 0,l”C. Thch institute continue to participate actively in the dcsign and installation of blood collection systems The Danish Meat Research Institute advices the in bacon factories as well as in cattle daughter plants. factories how to save cmcrgy and the Danish govern- A blood collection system for pigs blood for edible use ment gives grants for ciiergy conservation projects. is now in daily opera t‘ion. AND CATTLE RESEARCH. Automatic meatifat measuring system-classification. In collaboration with the National Institutc of Ani- In connection with the installation of an electronic mal Science, work has been concentratcd on cross- connection between the carcass wcighing machine breeding experiments where 15 diffcrent becf breeds and the meat-fat measuring systcm in pig slaughter- have been crossed with Danish Red cattle or Frie-

- 127- AMERICAN MEAT SCIENCE ASSOCIATION sians. New feeding materials such as maize silage and Remod of ammonia. silage from whole barley are also being tested. The institute has participated in the operation of a pilot plant installation, for the biological removal Nutritional value. of ammonia from the effluent of rendering plants. An investigation of the nutritional value of various cuts of beef and has been started in collaboration Working enc iron ment. with the National Food Institute. As a result of pressure from internal safety com- mittees, and, in some cases, from the Factory In- CANNED MEAT AND PRODUCED spectorate, a number of factories have requested in- MEAT PRODUCTS. vestigations of the ergonomic conditions at individual Blood protein for edible use. work stations. The institute continues its research in this area and A development project for the purposc of removing new centrifuges which are easier to clean and are or reducing the noise problems from saws is being particularly useful for smaller installations, have been prepared in collaboration with the Technical Univer- evaluated. The institute works on an industrial re- sity of Denmark. search project on the decolorisation of the red cell fraction through enzymatic hydrolysis of the haemo- Fnctory pkunning globin. Further development of the “sock-chilling” (fabric tube) system for refrigerated work rooms, ccpa 1’iza- Combination products. tion of cold store rooms etc. is carried out. The research on this area has been centered around attempts to use soluble vegetable protein in connec- Cozrrses, meetings, publications. tion with the curing process. The experimental results are brought to the indus- try by different means such as: Mechanically separated meat. 1) Meetings for the different categories of leaders Investigations to evaluate the properties of this in industry. type of raw material has been carried out. Binding capacity and particle size of the bone content and the 2) Publications of different types from detailed dependance of these factors on the separator-type reports to brief summaries. and type of bone have been studied. 3) Most important - a close personal contact at Temperature conditioning of fro-&en meut. all levels between industry and institute.

Fast thawing of frozen raw materials by use of THE ROYAL VETERIiiA4RYAND AGRICULTURE microwaves without deterioration of quality has been UNIVERSITY, DEPARThlENTS OF hlEAT investigated. The equipment is good for the tempera- TECHNOLOGY, COPENHAGEK. ture conditioning of raw materials for and Xational name: Den Kongeligc Veterinaer- og Land- bohojskole, Afdelingen for Kodteknologi. INEDIBLE BY-PRODUCTS add re^^: Howitsvcj 11, 2000 Kobcnhavn F, Denmark. Sources of odor. Telephone: 45-01-87 04 41. The institute has analyscd the sources of odour in J. \Vismer Pederren, which is a very wellknown rendering plants. The volume of exhaust air from ven- meat researcher is the head of the institute. tilation or from venting of individual pieces of equip- ment can be measured and analysed by a dynamic The department has 8 people employed. olfactometer. Education of students is the most important part of the work in the department. EFFLUENT, ENVIROKMENTAL MEASURES Assistance has been given both on effluent treat- RESEARCH PROJECTS. ment measures within the plants and in matters re- Blood protein. garding connection to public sewers and effluent treatment plants. Production of globine from blood from slaughter

- 128- AMERICAN MEAT SCIENCE ASSOCIATION animals ancl its use in food for humans has be'en stability of ground beef added blood from slaughter hrought to an end. This important research was animals. The color stability of the ground beef is in- financed by thc State Technical and Scientific Re- vestigated during storage in cooler. search council. The investigations have shown that an enzymatic Characterizing nromu components hydrolysis of hemoglobine may be used for produc- in cured meat products. tion of white hydrolysate which may be used as pro- In this project a lot of volatile componcnts from tcin enrichment in food. cured and fresh pork is determined. Basic research is carried out on the use of blood The composition of fatty acids and the change in in food. This project has resulted in use of blood in glyco- and phospho-lipids during storage are investi- brcad biscuits and meat products. Consumers have gated. reacted favorably to the product ancl its possibility. Thc work has been carried out together with the X-ray defraction technic is used to characterizc Danish Meat Trade School in Roskilde, which is well the composition of collagen crosslinks. The variation worth a visit, between breeds and animals in collagen and tencler- ness is investigated. The support for this project is Beef cooking. coming from the State Agriculturc- and Veterinary Science Research Council. Another interesting project is optimalization of tho cooking of beef. In the next meeting in Budapest for the European ,\feat Research TVorkers results from this work ill The aim of the project is to find out what biochem- be published. ical and biophysical methods should be used to char- acterize the structure in beef in order to find what DANISH MEAT PRODUCT LABOR4TORY, rncthod should be used to estimate the best cooking COPENHAGEK. method for beef in industrial operation. This project includes speed of the cooking, temperature, collagen National name: Landbrugsministeriets Slagteri- 06 content in the beef as well as cooking of cold short- Konserves-laboratorium ened beef. Address: Howitzvej 13, 2000 Kobenhavn F, Denmark. Telephone: 45 - 01 - 87 11 33. Telex 16 174 Mcalab Content of fiegetable protein in dk cooked meat products. Head of the institution is hlogens J.1, also a very well This project, as well as the above mentioned, is known meat researcher. lead by J. Wismer Pedersen and it is financed by the Danish States Research Council for ,4griculture and Total numbcr of employees: 86. Veterinary Science. Owned by: Ministry of Agriculture. The aim of the project is to find methods which Financed by: 90% from the Danish State, 9% from the could be used for quantitative determination of veg- University, 1%from contracts. etable proteins in cooked meat products, SDS. Acry- lamide gel clectroforcsis is used and it is hoped that Budget 1979: T;S $2 million corresponding to Danish this method could be used in the protein control of kroner: 8. 080.000. meat products. A defatted extract of the meat product Five percent of the total budget is used for re- is added to the acrylamide gcl and the bands near search. the meat protein are analysed. Twenty-five percent of the work is bibliography, Determinution of myofibrillur proteins in beef. fifteen percent is education, fifty percent is applied industrial food research and ten percent is technolog- The break-down of tho myofibrillar proteins in beef ical industrial food research. during ripening rcdts in appearance of a 30.000 Dalton component. The content of break-down prod- The research field includes the meat industry and uct will be related to the changes in tenderness (con- poultry slaughtering. sistency) after slaughtering. The research reports are published in a limited number. The reports are sent to the industry and to Color of beef. institutions in Denmark and some reports are prc- A small project is dealing with the color and color sented to congresses and in periodicals.

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Consultative work. The institution works in cooperation with The Danish Meat Research Institute, and the Danish Re- It must be mentioned that the institution act as warch Institute for Poultry Processing in Hillerod. consultants to the Danish meat industry especially in questions conccmiing thc. export to different parts The institutc has to certain extent a common a of the world. This work is of considerablc size and program with the following: Bundesanstalt fur value then the Danish export of meat products is Flcischforschung, Kulmbach. bleat Research Insti- considerable. tute, Langford, Bristol, England. Food Research In- stitute, Norwich and Spelderhold, Beckbergen, Hol- The staff in the laboratory include several food land. technologists, veterinarians, chemists and other cate- gory workers. The institute was built and started its work March 9th, 1938. Important in thc consultative work is Ann Brinck- clrds papcr: “Review of European legislation on veg- Research p’oje cts. etable protein in meat products,” a typical type of work carricd out. We also find: “Comparison of Freezer storage of cured meat products. methods of determination of thc water content of deep frozen chicken and hen” and “The keeping The institution in cooperation with Flemming quality of vacuum packed sliced products,” as well Lindelov has worked intensively on freezing of cured as: “Airborne infection in poultry processing plants.” meat products. Mogens Jul, former director of Danish Meat Re- The storage life of such products is evaluated, and search Laboratory, is often an invited speaker at rccomrnended storage timcs have been made avail- meetings in Scandinavia and elsewhere in Europe. able. We would like to mention: Vegetable protein in mcat products - problems and possibilities, quality of pig The effect of puckliging, PPP, on meat and using blood for human food. stcwage life of froxen meat. The institute has been working on pasteurization Hamburgers in different packaging material have and sterilization on meat and products and on been stored in a frozen state and research is carried electrical stimulation of chickens as well as the in- out in order to recommend storage timcs. fluence of aging on the tenderness of pork. Also the c&ct of storage in cabinets of frozen foods Also pork loin has been packed in MSAT-film and has been evaluated by research workers in the lab- found to have a shcalflife of 18 months at minus 1S”C. oratory in cooperation with the Food Technology \Vhen using vacuum packaging the shelflife was in- Laboratory, Copenhagen. crcmed by 30%. The electric stirnulation of chickens showed, in The institute has in fact done much work on PPP- the work carried out of the Danish Meat Products factors ( product-proccss-packaging ). Laboratory, to have vcry little effect on quality of thc carcasses. Electric stimulation of pigs. Author izut ion for export. The acceleration of glycolysis and the combined pH-drop might be a way of reducing the frequency The Danish Meat Products Laboratory is the in- of dark, firm and dry meat in pig carcasses. The study stitution which give authorization for export to US,4 was carried out in a modern abattoir with a capacity to the Danish Canning Factories. As Denmark is a of 227 pigs per hour and 100 pigs were stimulated mcmber of the, European Economic Community and compared to 100 control animal. The stimul a t’ion (EEC) a lot of adviecry work is carricd out by the was carried out after scalding and about 15 to 20 institute in that connection. minutes after stunning. The voltage was 500 and the frequency 2-5 pps, and the stimulation time 60 Quality control. s won d s. Besides the work carried out in connection with It was concluded that electrical stimulation of pig product dcvelopment and advicery servicc, especially carcasses might be a way of guiding the post-mortem on labcling and registration, the institution is carrying glycolysis also in ordcr to reduce the frequency of out quality control for the Danish exporting meat carcasses with low pH 24 hours post-mortem. indus trv.

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The quality control is carried out on: In this connection it must be mentioned that the director Esko Nurmi took his toctoral degree on the 1. Canned mcat products for export. addition of a combination of lactobacillae and micro- 2. Frozen meat products for export. coccae as starter cultures to dry salami sausages. It 3. Canned meat products for the Danish market. has been shown dso that here bacteria may compete with the existing flora in the meat and prevent path- The quality control include sensoric, bacteriolog- ogenic bacteria from growing in the salami sausages. ical and chemical analysis as well as the cooking I myself am so happy to be colleague of the vet- control. The institution also inspects the storage erinarian professor Esko Nurmi. We studied together rooms as well as the cartons containing cans. Pro- at the Veterinary College in Oslo, Norway, and it is duction and quality control is also carried out for quite interesting to see that many of his ideas arc of the Danish Ministry of Agriculture of those products great value to the meat industry. given from Denmark to the world food program. Research is done on the occurrence of salmonc,lla All plants exporting meat products are under eon- in Finnish deep-frozen broilcrs. The project leader trol of the institution and producers of frozen meat for this investigation is Dr. M. Raevuori. products have to send their information about the frozen food production to the Danish Meat Products The percentage of deep-frozen broilers having sal- Laboratory every week. Any visitor will be impressed monella bacteria is present under investig at' ion. by the serious quality control carried out for the Dr. M. Raevuori is also doing technological tests to Danish Meat Export Industry by this institution. see what effect the wheat protein, gluten, has in fresh sausages. STATE VETERINARY MEDICAL INSTITUTE, A project led by Mag. Eva Karppanen based upon FINLAND. analytical studies using high pressure liquid chroma- National name: Valtion Elainlaaketieteellinen Laitos. tography is to find how much muscle protein and Address : Hameentie 57, Helsinki 55, Finland. connective tissue are present in meat products. Telephone: 358 (9)0 73 60 46. - - Mag. Eva Karppanen is also leading a project on Number of employees: 90. the occurrence of Ochratoxin A in pig kidneys. The director of this institute situated in the city of Mycotoxin give7 a white color to the glands which Helsinki is professor Esko Nurmi. indicates that the meat itself also may contain Oclira- The state owns the institute and gives the principal toxin '4. support for the whole institute. Some money are Yersinia cntcrocolitiea is investigated in mcat and coming via funds and the Finnish Academy of Science meat products because this bacteria could also be a gives money for the salmonella research. problem for human beings. The budget for 1979 is 8700000 Finnish Marks, cor- Professor E. Kurmi is continually doing work on responding to US $2,3 million. starter cultures in order to develop bcttcr starter About 5 to 10%of the budget for 1979 is used for culturen for use in mcat products, especially dry meat research. sausages ( salami). The institute is carrying out research and import control of meat and meat products. It acts as a ref- TECHNICAL RESEARCH CENTER OF FINLAND erence laboratory for the meat inspection service and FOOD RESEARCH LABORATORY the food control laboratories throughout Finland. National name: Valtion Teknillinen Tutkiniuskeskus The Food Research Foundation in Helsinki is sup- porting one research project. Address: Biologinkuja 1, SF-02130 Espoo 15, Finland In 1972 the director of the institute came up with Telephone: 358 (9) 0-4561 a very interesting idea which later was used for pre- Number of employees: 86 vention of salmonella infections in broilers. Bacteria from the intestines of broilers are cultivated and then The institution is owned by The Government of given to one-day-old broilers. The flora is competing Finland, ministry of trade and industry. with the salmonella bacteria, preventing these path- The research is paid by the state, whereas, the food ogenic bacteria from growing in the digestive tract of industry pays for rec1ucstcd research projects. the broiler.

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The total budget is 5.400.000 Fmk, corresponding The Danish method for testing the fat layer on to US $1.85 millions, and 38 of this amount is used bacon pigs is under evaluation to sce if this KSA for meat research. test may be used in Finnish bacon carcasses. Since there are special meat research institutes in A bigger research project is going on to determine Finland, the activities of the Food Research Labora- the influence of fat content, protein content and water tory in the Technical Research Center is in this sector content, as well as collagen content, on the quality restricted to certain technological applications and of cooked sausages. The relationship between these general analytical preparation. contents in different amounts in sausages is evaluated. Research projects: Pre-salting A new method has been developed to decrease the cooking time of skinless sausages. The effect of pre-salting is investigated. The re- sults obtained until now indicatc that a pre-salting The present device consists of a tube having eight period of 48 hours is most efficient. Thc prc-salting electrical heating sections. A current is conducted to effect is reduced when the pre-salting lasts up to 72 the heating units through graphite electrode rings hours. and two water-jacketed surface heat exchangers. A rough mathematical model has been developed for Separated meat. this process and it has been simulated by a computer. The mechanical separation of meat from bones is In laboratory tests, dry sausages were treated with worked on and a Protecon machine is used as ~llas potassium sorbate aerosols for times varying from 5 a method named “Herta-KS.” This equipment is in- to 60 minutes in order to prevent growth of moulds stalled in a in Aabo. during ripening. The sorbic acid concentration on the surface of the treated sausages was determined. The stability of fresh mechanical separated beef and pork is investigated and it has been found that in Hydroxyproline has been analyzed by two methods, a fresh state the FFA-content has increased beyond namely by amino acid analysis and chemically. the recommended limit which is set to 0,5% A method is under investigation for the determi- Also the bacteriological quality during storage in nation of meat content in various foods. The method coolcr of such separated meat has been investigated. is based on the determination of 5-methylhistidine as its 2,4-dinitrobenzene derivative by HPLC- Prcduction of emulsions. chromatopgraph y. A recommendation is given to the slaughterhouses THE MEAT RESEA4RCH CENTER, in which it is told that the lean, the salt, phosphates HAMEENLINSA, FINLAND. and water should be added before skimmed milk powder, potato starch and spiccs. It has been found National name: Lihateollincn Tutkimuskeskus. that the process with a usual meat cutter gives a Address: Postbox 56, 13101 Hameenlinna 10, Finland. weight loss which is 1.72 less than using blending Telephone: 35 8 917. line. Numbers of cmployed is 45. Owner of the institute is The Cooperative Slaugh- Hvgienic yuulity of beef rind pmk cnrcusses. terhouse Organization, and the head of the institution It has been shown that different parts of the car- is director Mauno Kannari who has his office in Hel- casses arc more contaminated than other parts. By sinki at the address: Gamla Vintervagen 5, pl. 7, the contact plate method is it shown that the samc SF-00501 Helsinki, Finland. The telephone number parts of the carcasses are most contaminated in differ- of hlauno Kannari is: 90 71 7911. ent slaughterhouses. The economic support is coming from payment for This above mentioned contamination test is done considtative services and income from the spice serv- the day of slaughter and after one day in thc chiller. ice department of the institute. It is very difficult in many countries, including Fin- The budget for 1979 is 3.785000 Finnish Mark land, to get skilled slaughtcrhousc worker5 today. which is US $1 million. About 10%of the budget is used for research. Starch. breakdown in cooked sausages. Research projects under investigation in Hamccn- This is a bigger project which is supported by the linna arc interesting: State. The breakdown of starch by amylasc is studied

- 132- AMERICAN MEAT SCIENCE ASSOCIATION tinder different conditions and in different sausages for use in the meat industry as for instance IWEMA made from different recipes. and HOBART F 101 fat analysers. Different additives are continuously tested as the Rapid water binding test. institute has its own spice blending department. The Water binding capacity in the forcemeat deter- product “Pokelfcrment” consisting of a mix of freezed mined prior to finishing the cutting process: dried bacteria meant for curing is testrd for use in curing reindcw meat. During the cutting process it is of interest to know Different air ionization units have becn tested in how much water could be added totally. The institute is working on a method in which excess water is the slaughterhouses for their effcct on moulds and added to the forcemeat before adding starch and bacteria growth. dricd skimmed milk powder. By heating in a micro- wave oven it might be possible to determine the Hygienic standurrls in the slattghterhozises and water holding capacity of the half finished product meat packing plants. bclfore adding the last ingredient before stuffing. In addition to agar contact plates the institute has The test is carried out on a sample taken out from introduced the use of photographs in visualizing the cutter containing only the lean, the salt and the places in thr plants which hdve not been cleaned watrr with 0,2%phosphate included. satisfactorily. The idea seems very effective.

This test is also to be done on raw materials which Correlation between production COS€ and quality. have been pre-salted the day before the cutting Five times a year the institute is relating sensoric process. and chemical as well as bactcriological quality to the Bacteriological quality tests of , spleen, kid- real production cost of the products. Interesting rc- neys, ctc. are carriccl out in order to determine the sults are sent back to the industry in this connection. shelflife of such products. AcEditiws and helpstuffs. Storuge stability of “Christmas .” Products based on soyprotein or sodium caseinates The main dish for Christmas in Finland and in are being tested for quality and they are related to Sweden is cooked cured ham. each other and their prices are also related. This means that the industry has to store fresh Courses throughout the year. hams in the freezer a long time from May-June until December. It has a shortage of hams and this means The institute is running courses for different types that they have to take care of all the hams they can of personnel dealing with microbiology, packaging, get. meat quality, classification of meat, etc. In September, and after finishing the curing, the Altogether 565 people enjoyed the courses on tlrc cured hams are frozen and stored until they are sold topics mentioned above and 751 people enjoyed thc just before Christmas time. courses for people working in the meat dcpirtment in retail shops. The salt content may cause rancidity and ways of preventing this is looked for in a project going on where chemical analysis and sensoric tests are in- Mechanically separated meat. cluded. The limit of addition of mechanically separated DFD-measurements are carried out in Finland as meat is 3% of the total . well as in many other countries where DFD-problems in cattle are quite considerable. Measurements are Sodium reduced meat products. carried out in order to find to what extent the differ- In Finland where the sausage consumption is quite cnt slaughtcrhouses have this problem and to which high, the institute is now planning a reduction of the extent measurements have to be taken to prevent the sodium content in the sausages in two ways: By using occurrence of DFD-meat. a sodium rcduccd salt in the product and by reducing the total salt content in the sausages. Machine testing projects. The results from investigations carried out in this The institute have been testing different equipment connection shows that a rcduction of salt content

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from 2,2% down to 1,5% does not influence to any reindecr meat in new industrial products. The project practical extent the quality and the weight loss of is also including market analyses. the finished emulsion products. Back in 1955 the institute started investigations on starter cultures. The institute and its leader professor THE INSTITUTE OF ME.4T TECHNOLOGY, Niinivaara is well known for the basic knowledge UNIVERSITY OF HELSINKI. brought up on this field. Today the institute work on National name: Lihateknologian Laitos, Hclsingin developing the existing starter cultures into better Yliopistossa. ones. Address: 00701 Helsinki 71, Finland. A rapid method taking about two hours for deter- Telephone: 358-90-378011. mining the activity of lactobasilli has been developed by the institute. This method is very useful when The head of the institute is professor P. F. Niini- using starter cultures in the practical operation in vaara. dry sausage factories. The institute has 15 people employed and is fi- The nutritive value of meat and meat products, nanccd by the Finnish State. especially, sausages, is estimated. By taking the total The Statc and different private funds is supporting volumcs of food in the different geographic arcas it the research. The DFD-research carried out is paid has been estimated how much protein, fat and vita- by the Finnish Meat Industry. mines comes from the sausage consumption in Fin- land. The content of meat protein, less valuable col- Seventy-five percent of the budget ij from the lagen protein and protein from milk (skimmed milk Statc. powder added to the sausages) is estimated as well Forty percent of the total activity is meat research as the fat content of the products. and about fifty percent education of students, which THE SWEDISH MEAT RESEARCH CENTER, means it is typically a university institute. KAVLINGE. The Finnish Academy is supporting the project on National name: Kottforskningsinstitutet. water binding capacity of cooked sausages which will Address: POB, S-244 00 Kavlinge, Sweden. he mentioned later. Telephone: 046-46-73 22 30 To be mentioned among the research projects go- Total number of employees: 90 ing on at the institute are: Owned by: The Farmers Cooperativc. Financed by: The Meat Industry. A new method for measuring the water holding Budget 1979: mill., corresponding to Swcd- capacity is under development. The water holding US $: 3,2 capacity of cooked sausages is measured when using ish kroner: 14,3 millions. About 40% is used for different raw materials, different additives, as, for meat research. instance, phosphate, and helpstuffs, as, for instance, The institution may be known to many of the read- starches, from different sources. The many techno- ers as the Urd. Meeting of European Meat Research logical processes may influence the watcr holding Workers visited the institution when they arranged capacity md thc quality of the finished cooked sau- the meeting in Malmo, Sweden, under the leadership sages so these processes are related to each other. of the head of the institute professor Kurt Ostlund. Dr. Puolanne is leading this interesting project. The institute was started in 1967. The DFD-occurrence in Finland in beef cattle is cstimated and fix7e people in the institutc are work- Persons inside the cooperative slaughterhouse or- ing on this project. DFD-meat has been found in ganization act as board of directors and draw the ~LIIISand in milking cow carcasses as well. lines for the activity. Thc influence from such meat on the shelflife of A research committee is taking arc of the research and development program. the products in which they are used as raw material - is tested and the water holding capacity of such meat The institute is divided into four sections: Re- is rclatcd to normal mcat. search, technology, quality control and administra- Rcaindcer mcat is very expensive in the consumers tion. shops but relatively cheap in thc parts of the country A great part of the activity is going on in project whcrc rcindcer arc kept. A better utilization of rein- groups. Parallel to thc dividing into sc&ons it is a deer meat is thc aim of one project. The aim is to use project organization built ovcr it which coordinate

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the cooperation between thc different units within Nutritio nnl oalt re. the institute. The different results of the chemical analyses of raw materials and analyses of meat and mcat prod- Re yearch projects. ucts will be put together in tables. The main areas arc meat science and microbiology. Carbon dioxidg. Questions concerning mcat quality is one of the Research is carried out in order to see the effect most important arcas. The rcsults from the research of carbon dioxide on the activity of microorganisms. is the base for increasing the efficiency and quality The project is a joint projcct in cooperation with an- of pork and beef. other Swedish rcsearch institution, Kemicentrum iii The research on microbiology is aimed on the use Lund. of starter-culturcs for sausage products which are The storagc Iifc of meat and meat products may smoked. be increased by using carbon dioxide. The nutritional value of different meat products The practical possibilities for using carbon dioxide are also worked out in the research section as well as will be evaluated in this project which is lcad by work on enzymatic analytic methods. Goran Molin.

“Food Hygiene and you.” The development for starter culttires for sausages. An important research project is, in fact, the work Inger Erichscn, a charming Norwegian lady, is on information about hygiene and the importance of head of this project. microorganisms on spoilage for thc people working The aim of the projcct is to find what types of in the food industry. bacteria are dominating the flora in fermented sau- The aim here is to provide information about hy- sages of superior quality. The bacteria will be iso- giene which will make the demand for good hygiene lated, identified and classified and these starter cul- when handling foods clearly understood. The effect tures will be uscd in fermented products in order to of this information technique will be measured as the control and lcad the fermentation proecss in the material is spread throughout the food industry. right direction. Videocassettes, also in foreign languages, are being made in this connection. Fatty acids. By g‘iscromatographic methods analyses arc carried Christian Nickels is responsible for this project like out on long-and short chain fatty acids. A method many other projects in the research program of the may be used for gascromatographic analysis of fatty institute. acids with one up to six carbon atomes. The separa- tion betwccn the difierent fatty acids shall be in- Blood protein. creased. RcAsearcli is carried out for the technical optim a1‘ iza- Taste of baked her pasfe. tion ancl economical aspects of making edible protein from Iilood. The aim here is to propose a process for baked liver paste and recommend the most practical equip- The dcw)lorization of blood and blood conccntrate mcnt which might give the most rational production with aceton-acetic acid is evaluated together with and give a liver paste in a pack which will get the optimalization of aceton-hydrocloric acid process best acceptancc on the market. paramctcrs. PSE and DFD. Ckis~sificutitmof bacteria. Stefan Fabiaiisson and his group will try to find the There ‘ire data based classification systems for best method for determining the PSE and DFD frc- bacteria of mcdical importance, but not for bacteria quency by measuring ATP/IA/IP-content in the meat, in the food microbiology. The aim of this project is also, a method for determining the watcr holding a combination of selcction principals and data based capacity of mcat, raw material containing PSE-meat numeric analyses to dcvc~lopa classifichon system will be worked out, especially for IISC in raw mate- for bacteria present in foods. rials for export.

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E lk-moose The Swedish company Husquarna has made a microwave unit, model 502, for dc+ermination of The clwmical content in moose meat is going to water content in meat products. This equipment will be evaluated in order to determine, among other bc tested under the leadership of Kurt Kolar. things, iron, calcium and phosphorous as well as the composition of fatty acids and amino acids, in this Karin Svensson is project leder on a project whose gamc meat which reprcwnts many tons in Sweden, aim is to get biochemicals and pharmaceutic products Finland and Norway. from the by-products in the slaughter-houses.

Packaging system for consumer cuts. Destnrction of bucteriul spores by thermal methods. The aim of this project is to develop a packaging This project is aiming for a publication in the book: systcm which may give the packed beef a shelflife, “Principles and Practice of Disinfection, Preservation plus good color keeping properties, for 6 days. and Sterilizdtion.” Among other projects we have to mention: Identi- fication of chemotherapeutics and other foreign sub- A new test method for isolation and quantification stances in beef carcasses as well as non-enzymatic of anaerobic bacteria will be evaluated. brown colouring - Maillard-reactions which is a Thc institution has what they call “preliminary literature study. research projects” and the words mentioned in this connection might be of interest: Racon, measuring Boar tairtt. methods for meat quality, separation of hemoglobin, A chemical analysis method for scatol will be eval- stunning, llaillard reaction, micro-elements in meat, uated as well as a sensoric analytic method for boar li~erand kidneys, chilling of fat from fatmclting, taint. A correlation will be made between the content test of a new method for determination of anarobic of scatol and androstcnon content and other tests. bacteria, study of the nutritional value of connective tissue, microbiology of DFD-meat, vacuum packaging One project is dealing with the production of meat of beef, proposal for a central control of meat prod- products by means of Pcdiococcus-cells of standard- ucts marketed with the trade inark SCAN, alternative ized quality. slaughter methods, standardization of raw materials h method for determining the cooking loss during from meat. will be evaluated. Also the effect of carbon dioxide on the bacteria flora on fresh meat will be QUALITY CONTROL. evaluated in a project lead by Goran Molin. Analysis una quality control. Hot-boning. The Swedish Meat Research Center has a vcry The aim of this project is to evaluate the technical, qualified chemical analytic department and they do hygienic crgonornic, as well as the quality aspects of much work on centralized quality control of meat hot-boning in Swedish slaughterhouses. The aim is products marketed under the trademark SCAN, to propose a good technique for hot-boning of pork which is a trademark belonging to the Cooperative and bcef. Slaughterhouse Organization. Evaluating ncw meth- ods is part of the activity in the quality control de- The temperature drop in beef - the cold-shortening partment. and the water holding capacity will be evaluated during different cooling rates for beef. In this project Inf ormation and education. also, the effect of electrical stimulation, and its effect on thc time and temperature during chilling will be Christian Nickels mentioned that research should studied. Also it will be the aim of the project to pro- be done on “in what way rcsearch results should be pose the right time and temperature drops which uscd.” He was vcry occupied with “rapid methods should be used for preventing cold-shortening. for quality control, and tests of the production during the process.” Cooler stoqe of fresh beef - Kurt Ostliind mentioned, during my visit, his intcr- n microbiological research area. esting ideas about what he called “fine chemicals” In this connection the Swedish Meat Research like phosphatides and swingomyelins in the brain. Center want to get into contact with other researchers Thcse products are vcry difficult to syntetisize and, dealing with the same problern. therefore, he meant it woulcl be nccessury, also, in thc

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In Sweden, as in other countries, the tendency is Antibiotic residws in slaughter animals. that the meat operation now is going from being handwork to industry operation, said Kurt Nilsson, This project is carried out in cooperation with the chief of the technological department in Kavlinge. Swedish Meat Research Center in Kavlinge. The consumer in Sweden is asking more and more for quality products, so that the industry has to con- Scalding of pig and its influence on meat quality. centrate on quality and rationalization. In this con- Bernt Jones is head of this project which is carricd nection he mentioned production processes in closed out in cooperation with the Institute for clinical systems which require CIP (clean in place), and chemistry at the Veterinary Faculty as well as with special knowhow which will be expected to be avail- the Meat Research Center in Kavlinge. able in the meat research. Radioactive isotopes will be used for determining SWEDISH UNIVERSITY OF the spreading of scalding water in the arteries and AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES. veins in pig carcasses. FACULTY OF VETERINARY MEDICINE. The new building and the new research center in DEPARTMENT OF FOOD HYGIESE. Uppsala will bc well worth a visit in the future. National name: Sveriges Lantbniksuniversitet. Veterinarmedicinska fakulteten. SIVEDISH UNIVERSITY OF Instituten for livsmedelshygien. AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES. Address: 750 07 Uppsala 7, Sweden. FACULTY FOR ANIMAL HUSBANDRY Telephone: 46-018- 11 12 00. ASD GESETICS. Total number of employees: 25. National name: Sveriges Landbrukwniversitet. Owner: The Swedish State. Institutionen for Husdjurforadling och Sjukdoms- Financed by: The Swedish Government. genetik. Total budget 1979: 1 million Swedish kroner, US Address: 750 07 Uppsala 7, Sweden. $230.000. Telephone: 46-018-10 20 00. The institution is moving from Stockholm to Upp- Totdl number of employees: 7. sala and the research activity is at the moment Owned by: The Swedish State. very low. Financed by: The Swedish State. Budget 1979: For meat research: Swedish kroner: The head of the department for food hygiene is 350.000. - which corresponds to US $24.000. professor doctor vet, Torsten Nilsson. The meat research of the faculty is coordinated The institution will be moved and integrated into by Ingemar Hansson. thc University of Agriculture in Uppsala as a special All the facilities of the section - office, laboratories. faculty. The institution is in the same building as the lairages and dissecting rooms are situated near the institute of Pathology of the Veterinary Faculty and public abattoir at Uppsala. The staff of the section this makes resedrch cooperation easy. are, therefore, able to follow the carcasses during the slaughtering process to take samples and to register Research projects. the different ccircass traits. The lairage are especially Professor Maric-Louise Danielsson is the project equipped for experiments with regard to environ- leader of the project named: Enterotoxinproducing mental treatment prior to slaughter. The dissecting gram-negative bacteria in meat and meat products. room is equipped with measuring units and balances The occurcnce of gram-negative enterotoxinbuilding for automatic registration of data. Both OCR-prints bacteria in different types of food from the raw7 mate- and magnetic tapes arc used. rial to the finished products will be evaluated. Dif- The research program is divided into two parts: fcrent products will be infcctcd experimentally by Experiments concerning thc assessment and evalua- LT- and ST-building E.-coli. tion of carcasses which are carried out on beef ani- mals, pigs and lambs. The main purpose of the work The influence of various storage conditions on the is to obtain good estimate of the lean meat content microbiological changes in meat is another project of the carcasses. Carcasses arc dissected into lean with Torsten Nilsson as a leader. The storagc life at meat, fat, tendons and bones. AMERICAN MEAT SCIENCE ASSOCIATION

The second part of the research program is dealing Research projects. with experiments concerning yield of slaughter by- IJsefulness of animal fats. products and effect of different environmental treat- Lard tallow and other animal fats used in the in- ments prior to slaughter on carcass quality. An in- dustry are not given as good handling and treatment vestigation dealing with different parts of the “fifth as the other meat raw materials. This means that such quarter” was started in the section in 1977. The fatty tissue often is more contaminated and, there- weight of liver, heart, kidneys, tongue, lungs, tail, fore, often turns rancid faster than other raw mate- etc., have been recorded on slaughter pigs, sows, rials. The free fatty acid number of the different raw cattle and lambs of different ages, breeds and sex. materials are determined and new methods for treat- The relationships between growth data, carcass com- ing these by-products will be developed. The institute position and the weight of different by-products may is working on developing new quality testing meth- be of great interest. ods for these raw materials. Another project deals with the effect of different environmental treatments on the ultimate carcass- By-Products, process water and losses. and meat quality. Waste containing bone and muscles from The University has its own blood typing laboratory the effluent treatment plant are mixed with carba- and different breeding experimental sections for poul- mide and treated at low temperature (minus 5 to try as well. +20°C). The proteins are precipitated and textured. The solution of carbamide is mixed with carbones THE SWEDISH FOOD INSTITUTE. like etanol or sugar and the Geoticum Candidum is National name: SIK - Svenska Livsmedelsinstitutet. growing in the product giving a biomass which is used for feeding cattle. Address: Fack, $400 2.3 Gothenburg, Sweden. Telephone: 46 - 31 40 01 20 MEAT RESEARCH IN ICELAND. Head of the institute is professor Nils Bengtsson. In Iceland, as in many other countries, the agri- Total employees: 90 culture plays an important role. Iceland is self sup- The institute is supported jointly by the Swedish porting in dairy products and exporting considerable government and an industry foundation with some 63 amounts of Icelandic lambs. Swedish and foreign member companies. Unfortunately Iceland has not been visited before the preparation of this paper. The annual budget is 3,5 million US $ where the Swedish government and the industry foundation The Agricultural Research Institute deals with animal breeding nutrition, veterinary medicine, food contribute with 50% each. technology and food hygiene. This central institute Fifteen percent of the budget is used for meat also has a number of laboratories and field stations. research. The institute has their own library and information VETERINARY COLLEGE OF NORWAY, secretary. DEPARTMENT OF FOOD HYGIENE. The director of research Cai Eriksson mentioned National name: Norges Veterinaerhogskole, Institute that the institute has reference groups, expert groups for Naeringsmiddelhygiene. which give guidelines to the research. These people Address: Box 8146, Dep. Oslo 1, Norway come from the industry. Telephone: 47-02-69 36 90 A three-year program of research is always being evaluated. Total number of employees: 32 The scientists in the institute also give lectures in The institution is ovi7ned by the Norwegian state, the Chalmers University of Technolgy and in the and is financed by the Government and the Agricul- University of Gothenburg. This gives the institute and tural Research Council. its scientists the possibility ta educate in food science Head of Department of Food Hygiene is Prof. at the university and, thereby, bring to the industry Bjarne Underdahl. the possibility to receive educated people. Among the main working areas are: teaching, re- This also, in a way, gives a good contact between search-work, microbiological, chemical and toxico- the research and the industry. logical analysis of food.

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The laboratory acts as a reference laboratory in Porcine stress syrulrmne. this connection. The main object of the investigation is to clarify Information work is also important. the extent of PSS condition in Norwegian pigs and recommend measures to reduce this condition to a Research projects which relate to meat and meat minimum. products : 1. Microbiological methodology Protease activity in muscles. 2. Microbiological criteria for meat products An enzyme inhibitor of the calcium activated pro- 3. Food-borne infections and intoxications tease has been isolated. Indications are that muscle 4. Residues of therapeutics and environmental con- atrophy and muscle tenderness may be closely re- taminants lated processes. 5. Food additives Preservation of by-products frorn abattoirs. THE NORWEGIAN FOOD RESEARCH These studies have mainly been concentrated on INSTITUTE. the lactic acid fermentation of by-products in order National name: Korsk Institutt for Naeringsmiddel- to develop a non-perishable animal feed with high forskning. nutritive value. Address: Postbox 50, 1432 Aas - NLH. Telephone: 47-02-94 08 60. Studies on the properties of blood and blood plasma. Number of employees: 80. Head of the institute is professor Anton Skulberg. A comprehensive report is issued by the institute on the addition of blood plasma to emulsion products. The institute is owned by the Society for Research Improved utilization of other by-products will con- of Agricultural Food Products, founded in 1971. tribute to the reduction of severe pollution from The financial basis of the society is a levy on cer- meat packing plants. tain agricultural products used by the food industry. The society may finance relevant agricultural food Meat from boars. research projects in any Norwegian research institu- tion. Utilization of meat from boars is interesting since this meat is leaner than meat from barrows and boars The levy amounts 0,3%of the value of all types of also grow faster. It is anticipated at the institute that meat and vegetables, berries and eggs used as raw the ordinary consumer will hardly be able to distin- materials in the food industry. guish between meat and fat from boars and barrows For meat research the budget is US $776.000 when consumed without any heat treatment. for 1979. Research projects on meat and meat products: Studies of cancerogenic substances in products. Studies of protein behaviour during different The occurrence of PHC from smoke generators is types of heat treatment. studied. The results indicate that the temperature should not exceed 450°C. A prototype smoke gen- These studies include proteins like ovalbumin, erator, where the temperature under practical cir- serum albumin and meat proteins as well as protein cumstances may be regulated within rrtl5"C, has from shark muscles. This work will give increased been developed. knowledge about the changes of food proteins during thermal treatment. DSC-analysis is used. Automation awl regulation of processes. Temperature conditions during carems chilling. Extensive microbiological and biochemical studies The institute has worked on how to chill carcasses are carried out in order to establish a basis for the in order to get the best hygienic and eating quality regulation and automation of the process for making of the meat. The experiments include tests with dif- dry sausage. These studies involve many different ferent temperatures, humidity and air velocities. researchers in the institution. AMERICAN MEAT SCIENCE ASSOCIATION

NORWEGIAN MEAT RESEARCH LABORATORY, The stress problems in slaughter animals. OSLO. Much attention is paid to the stress of slaughter National name: Norgcs Slaktcrilaboratorium. animals talccng place between the farm stable and the de-bleeding in the slaughterhouse. Questions re- -4ddress: Lorenveien 37, Postbox 96, Refstad, Oslo 5, lated to pre-slaughter handling, stunning methods Norway. and processing of carcasses arc evaluated in the slaughterhouse nearby. Telephone: 47-02- 15 05 10. The main tasks of The Norwegian Meat Research Effluent water Laboratory are: To extend knowledge about meat and meat products and to solve problems of the meat One department routinely control slaughterhouse industry, to find better methods for utilization of the effluent water for BOD;, COD, suspended matter carcass and to give assistance to the meat industry. and phosphorus content.

The research is financed partly from a marketing Stunning of pigs. fee on meat. This fee amounts to US 3 cent per kilo (15 ore per kilo) and is administrated by The Mar- Stunning of pigs by electricity is done better by keting Council. The Norwegian Farmers Meat Mar- highcr voltage than that used in Norway today, and, keting Organization also support the research and new and more safe equipnicnt to the operators is also requested work as, for instance, quality con- under development in cooperation with an electro- trol, etc. technician and a company making equipment for the meat and dairy industry. The annual budget is: 2,8 million Norwegian kro- ner corresponding to US $540.000. Tests will be carried out in order to scc if any negative effect is on the neck meat from the stunning Total number of employees in the laboratory it- current, through the neck musclcs of the animal, if self: 20 + 15 part time. the electrical stunning tonguc with the voltage on, The institution has several services common with is kept on too long in order to keep the animal im- The Norwegian Farmers Meat Marketing Organiza- mobilized. tion: Postal distribution, telephone switchboard service, social services including medical, salary Special floors in the slaughterhouse stubles. office, bookkeeping, engineer services, machine work- The effect of sloping floors upon the behaviour of shop, electrician, etc. pigs will be tested. Will the pigs turn themselves to- Head of the institution is Ole Sigmund Braathen. wards the higher levels of the floor and make them casier to drive into the stunning area? If the lairage floors are made like this it might perhaps be possible Research projects: to reduce the stress problems to some extent. .

Meat tenderness has been a long term project. Fermented products. Many different ideas have been tested to provide Work is being carried out on the microbiological knowledge about what is taking place in the meat and enzymatic processes going on in dried cured after slaughtering. hams and dried salami during drying and ripening. The enzymatic processes need to be bettcr evaluated. ,4 patent has been applied for on electrical stim- ulation of hot-boned meat. The equipment which also The effect of starter cultures which arc bought detects DFD-meat gives the possibility to “save” the from West-Germany and used in Norwegian salami “hot-boned meat” water binding capacity. sausages and other dry sausage products are tested routinely for effectiveness also in relatively high The hot-boned raw material for meat emulsions is temperatures. kept apart from the electrical stimulation line. In connection w‘ith the development of the equipment, Raw material knowledge. work is carried out in order to find out how long after post-mortem a muscle reacts upon electrical stimu- The thawing of fresh meat and the texture of raw lation. Also, the effect of different types of electrical meat and fat at different temperatnree just Mow the stimulations on the tenderness itself is evaluated. freezing point of meat is of interest. Is it useful to

- 140- AMERICAN MEAT SCIENCE ASSOCIATION carry out temperature conditioning of materials for Work is started on finding any correlation between use in for instance salami production? Instron measurements and taste panel scores for con- sistency of emulsion products. The effect of the de- An apparatus named Fat-Tester is used for deter- gree of fineness of the emulsion containing different mining the fat content in mixed coarse ground raw amounts of collagen is studied. The addition of materials for emulsions and we look for similar equip- papain to the water used for reheating sausages be- ment for this purpose. fore consumption is evaluated. Emulsion products. Cooking of meat products. The shelflife of emulsion type sausages made from The temperature and the heat convection in cook- raw materials containing different amounts of DFD- ing chambers are evaluated in order to find what is meat and, at the same time, added different amounts the optimum humidity to be used in cooking cham- of starch, is evaluated. The amino acids in the pro- bers for bologna and Vienna-type sausages. In this teins might be destroyed earlier if it is a lack of connection work is carried out on the problem with “sugars.” black pudding being red instead of black due to un- Salt containing reduced amounts of sodium is satisfactory coagulation of the blood during the tested in different emulsion products in order to see cooking process. the effect upon taste and water binding capacity in relation to the use of normal salt. In the future a Packaging. demand for meat products containing low amounts The COa-gas production in packages containing of sodium in order to reduce blood pressure might bologna-type sliced sausages as well as different dried, be made. cured sausages is measured. Mechanically sqarated meat. A simple method is evaluated in the institution for testing the oxygen permeability and, thereby, the One question we hope we may be able to answer quality of the whole finished deep drawn packages in the future is: What is the water binding capacity used for packaging meat and meat products. The of mechanically separated beef and pork after differ- packaging industry seems to have little information ent freezer or cooler storage periods? about their own laminates after different degrees of “deep drawing.” Vegetable versus unimal fats. Contact with the industry. One of the main projects during the recent years has been trying to get more knowledge about animal A small newsletter, LABINFORM, is issued every fats versus vcgetable fats spread to interested people. second month. It contains a summary of the informa- Literature concerning the advantages of animal fats tion given inside in the list of contents on the front is translatcd and sent to newspapers and health or- page. It is hoped that this makes it possible for the ganizations. One of the articlcs to be mentioned is busy reader to get an impression of the “messages” written by professor A. M. Pearson, Michigan State in a hurry. University. The research staff joins meetings of the persons being in charge of the production at the various Emulsion produc.ts. plants, and by taking part in the discussions, try to inform about new research developments as well as The effect of storage upon raw forcemeat before older basic facts. stuffing into bologna and Vienna types sausages will be evaluated. The staff gives lectures at industry courses, act as speakers at The School of Food Technology, ctc. Very Rcsearch is going on in order to find the best way important for maintaining a good communica t’ion is to use tissue containing relatively high amounts: of answering inquiries made by the telephonc and pay- collagen. We will try to find any connection between ing visits in the meat processing plants in order to the shelflifc of emulsion type sausages and the eol- discuss with practical people. lagen content. Information is given to the local laboratory staffs in By microscopy we find if a sausage product is the meat packing plants and in central courses. Two- added textured soy protein. This addition is not legal way communication is, in our opinion, a very impor- in Norway. tant way of putting new research results into prac-

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tical operation in the meat packing plants. We have, order to obtain new knowledge about various fields to a greater extent than other meat research insti- of research. New ideas for research projects are tutions, simplified the information given to the meat more and more difficult to find and, therefore, valu- industry and others, and we hope this will turn out able. to be for OUT benefit in the future., We also try to find the most practical way for ob- Contact with other meat research institutions. taining scientific results and put them into practical operation. Difficult questions, which are not answered It is the philosophy of the institution that very by searching in the literature, are sent to various in- much valuable research knowledge is available stitutions around the world with the promise that a around the world and that these important scientific copy of all the answers we get will be sent to the facts should be the base for the practical operations institutions trying to answer our questions. To date, in the Norwegian meat industry. the reactions of the various meat research institutions An important task is to translate research results to our questions have been very positive. from various foreign languages into a very easily It is my hope that this presentation of the meat understood Norwegian language without sophisti- research in Scandinavia and Finland here in the cated expressions and words. In this work Donald M. United States may contribute to a better coordination Kinsmans International Meat Science Dictionary, to of the meat research around the world. This, I hope, which we have contributed, is very useful. will be to the benefit of meat research, the single The research staff has participated in maiiy na- meat researcher as well as the whole meat industry tional and international scientific conferences in and the world population, the consumers.

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