For further information on muscle structure, please see Kitchen
Evisceration involves the skilled removal of the intestine of the animal. This is done as quickly as possible after slaughter to avoid the risk of cross – contamination
The hide is mechanically removed from the beast and facilitated by two members of the plant’s team whose responsibility it is to assist by making small strategic cuts whilst avoiding making any ‘tears’ to the fat or muscle
Visual as well as administrative checks are made throughout the slaughter process to ensure traceability and hygiene
At this plant, initial butchery can be carried out before the meat is onwardly transported. This will be to a specification provided by the customerAbattoir - Supply Chain Focus
Skilled, safe and efficient
Scottish processors participating in the Quality Meat Scotland scheme employ highly trained, highly experienced staff that understand and are proud of their role in producing the highest quality product for their customers.
Leaving their mark - traceability continues throughout the abattoir process
Efficiency, quality of staff, and constant emphasis on achieving and exceeding standards are the watchwords of the Scotch meat processing industry. Despite the unique nature of their operation, production at the plants is a model of speed and efficiency. Each week the abattoir will decide how many animals it needs and the procurers will go and buy that number, preferably spreading the intake evenly over the week. Some abattoirs also run farms of their own, breeding, feeding and finishing their own cattle or sheep.
It is vital that the exacting standards and industry demands are consistently met, all Scottish plants work closely with the Meat Hygiene Service and each is visited by an independent inspector on behalf of Quality Meat Scotland four times a year, including unannounced visits.
The strict requirements begin from arrival into lairage where animal welfare trained staff – both the hauliers’ and the plant’s – unload the animals. Here the animals, in their farm groups for familiarity and to prevent stress levels unduly rising, settle down after the journey. The abattoir’s lairage manager ensures all animals are signed in and their passports checked off at reception and then safely segregated off by farm. Most plants receive animals from several different farms in a day and are capable of holding a number of animals in lairage.
Timings are critical: operators have only 60 seconds from the point of stunning to ‘stick’ each animal. From then on, highly skilled operators set to work in a seamlessly efficient series of stations to prepare the carcase for chilling. Each operator will be proficient in one or more station, requiring differing skills and abilities. The other key timing is that evisceration must have been actioned within 45 minutes of slaughter. After a final passport check each side of beef or lamb carcase is arranged uniformly in the anti cold shortening chiller.
Officials from the Meat Hygiene Service, the enforcing industry authority, thoroughly check the head, liver, tongue and pluck for contamination and procedures ensure that the head and body relating to these organs can be instantly identified in case of any issues. Likewise the vet is on site until the last animal of the day is killed and all abattoir staff are actively encouraged to closely scan the animal for any signs of crosscontamination. Attention to detail is so thorough that even the temperature of the knife sterilisation baths is checked as part of the quality assurance scheme and a day’s clean down takes the best part of six hours.