Meat + Poultry - December 2007 - 10

CONTENTS

MEAT&POULTRY

NEWS & OPINION

4 The Front Page

EDITORIAL STAFF
Editor

Late-breaking news

Joel Crews
Executive Editor

14 Commentary

Keith Nunes
Senior Editor

Assuming risks

Bryan Salvage
Contributing Editors

16 Business Notes

Richard Alaniz
Larry Aylward
Jeff Chilton
Steve Kay
Leo Quigley
Richard Stier

News briefs from around the industry

24 International News & Trends
News briefs from around the world

Charlie Arnot
Steve Bjerklie
Dr. Temple Grandin
Steve Krut
Bernard Shire

Graphic Designer

Mike Gunther
PUBLISHING STAFF

26 Washington

Chairman and Group Publisher

All eyes are on food safety regulation reform

Charles S. Sosland
Vice-Chairman

106 Labor

L. Joshua Sosland
President, Publishing Director

New EECC rule presents discrimination possibilities

Mark Sabo
Publisher

Dave Crost

DEPARTMENTS

North American Sales Director

Bruce Brown

Classified Ads ............................ 124

News from Suppliers ................. 112

Advertising Index ...................... 129

Product Showcase ..................... 115

Mike Alaimo
BUSINESS/PRODUCTION STAFF

Names in the News ................... 114

The Insider ................................. 130

Audience Development Director

Publisher Emeritus

Don Keating
Circulation Manager

Sheryl Morrow
Vice-President & Chief Financial Officer

Melanie Hepperly
Design Services Manager

SPECIAL REPORT

Sadowna Conarroe

67 MEAT PROCESSING - Operations & Engineering
Sanitation Tips

Flooring Trends

Lean Tips

Mixer-Grinder Options

A supplement to MEAT&POULTRY

December 2007

KEEPING PACE

*
*
*
*
*
*
*

Smithfield RMH
Mixer/grinders
Processors ask
Flooring trends
Lean Tips
Refrigeration
Sanitation Tips (in Spanish
and English)

Heat-and-eat
is the focus
at Smithﬁeld/
RMH Foods

OPERATIONS & ENGINEERING

(Consejos Sanitarios)

Water works
Taking steps to maximize
sanitation and minimize
waste
By Bernard Shire
meatpoultry@sosland.com

nput for this month's Sanitation Tips column comes from
Dr. Kevin M. Keener, a food process engineer and extension specialist, as well as an associate professor of food
science at Purdue Univ., in West Lafayette, Ind.
Keener teaches a food
sanitation course at Purdue. The course is a practical application of hygienic practices, requirements
that exist for sanitation
programs and modern
sanitation practices in food
processing facilities. The
course, which Keener will
teach again in the spring of
2008, also gives students
the knowledge to develop
and maintain a sanitation
program in various settings, including a meat or
poultry plant.
The course is a threecredit hour distance education course that students
can take advantage of by e-mail. The text for the course is
Principles of Food Sanitation, 2006, by Norman G. Marriott
and Robert Gravani (editor). The objectives of the course include how to introduce sanitation practices in food processing facilities; teaching sanitation principles and the require-

MEAT&POULTRY

December 2007

MEAT&POULTRY

I December 2007

www.MEATPOULTRY.com

www.MEATPOULTRY.com
www M

ments for a food sanitation program;
and presenting modern sanitation practices, including sanitation equipment
and methods. The course includes laws
and regulations governing sanitation, establishment of GMPs and SSOPs, sanitation inspections, allergens and food
contamination sources, biosecurity and
the relationship of microorganisms to
sanitation, and the cleaning of food processing facilities.
Keener says minimization of waste
and water when cleaning and sanitizing meat processing plants is a constant
challenge for owners and operators as
well as the workers who carry out the
cleaning and sanitizing process. He says
waste treatment and water costs for large
processing plants total millions of dollars every year. "Often, plant management treats waste and water used in processing and sanitation as a fixed cost,"
Keener notes. "They spend little effort
investigating reduction strategies." This
results in wasting even more water and
money in the sanitation process.
There are some simple steps that
can be taken with minimal changes to
the wastewater cleaning and sanitizing
process. He says they may play a big
role in reducing the amount of water
and waste generated in the sanitation
process, as well making the process
more economical. He notes that typically, the wastewater operator is located
only a short distance away in an adjacent building. "But it is often assumed
that the operator is a thousand miles
away from the plant," he says.
Anyone interested in taking the
course or receiving a syllabus to find
out more about it can contact Keener at
Purdue Univ. at (765) 494-6648.
M&P's Sanitation Tips are to be used only as guidelines for cleaning and sanitizing processing facilities.
Speciﬁc issues and questions should be addressed
by a sanitation crew supervisor.
Bernard Shire is M&P's Washington correspondent
based in Lancaster, Pa. With a background in editing and writing for daily news publications, he also
works as a food safety consultant and writer for Shire
& Associates.
We would like to hear from you - to comment
on this story or to request reprints, contact us by
e-mail at:meatpoultry@sosland.com.

Manager of Advertising Design

Becky White
Marketing Communications

Alissa Voran
Classified Sales Representative

Lily O'Kane
Classified Designer

Steve Piatt
Digital Systems Analyst

Marj Potts
Advertising Materials Coordinator

Maren Hamon
Sales: dcrost@sosland.com
Editorial: jcrews@sosland.com
www.MEATPOULTRY.com
Address editorial correspondence to:
Editor, MEAT&POULTRY, 4800 Main Street,
Suite 100, Kansas City, MO 64112.
Phone: (816) 756-1000 Fax: (816) 756-0494
Letters via e-mail can be sent to meatpoultry@
sosland.com. Letters may also be sent via fax to
(816) 756-0494. The Editor reserves the right to
edit letters for length, content and clarity.
Requests for reprints of articles should be sent
to reprints@sosland.com or call Carrie Fluegge at
(816) 756-1000.

�ePA

Sosland Publishing Co.,
a division of Sosland Companies, Inc.

http://www.MEATPOULTRY.com at:meatpoultry@sosland.com http://www.MEATPOULTRY.com http://www.MEATPOULTRY.com

Meat + Poultry - December 2007

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Meat + Poultry - December 2007