Meat+Poultry - March 2022 - 24

SOSLAND PUBLISHING
years
" Refrigeration and freezing technology
- that changed everything and created a
national/global industry, " Crews said. " Vacuum
packaging technology extended the shelf life of
products and facilitated increased distribution
across the country. "
By the 1970s, automation had started to
play a much larger role in the meat industry.
" It's been mostly used at the end of
processing lines (packaging and logistics),
but there is a strong push for it upstream
because labor shortages in plants have been
a huge problem that is only getting worse, "
Crews said.
CONSUMERISM, REGULATION
As the 1960s flowed into the 1970s, meat
and poultry purveyors encountered even
more tectonic change. " Boxed beef became
the norm for many processing companies
versus receiving shipments of primals and
subprimals, " Crews noted.
Our coverage
balances
business and
trends. We
look at what's
over the next
hill, at what's
happening
in the plant
and what's
developing with
the technology. "
- DAVE CROST
Industry consolidation and vertical
integration on the slaughter side created
economies of scale and reduced the price
of meat to the point everyone could afford
it. Within a decade, poultry emerged as the
nation's most popular animal protein.
Contract poultry production became a
primary market. Niche markets began to rise,
and foodservice flexed its supply chain muscles,
creating franchise-based businesses that could
provide a chain operator's every need from
hamburger patties to buns, ketchup packets
and cleaning chemicals, all distributed from one
location, i.e. the " single source " vendor.
Biotechnology in the form of protein
somatotropin (pST) entered herd
management practices.
Although powerful labor unions had
journeyed well into their long twilight
decline, they still put up a furious fight as
the industry reshaped itself around newly
dominant companies.
" In the meantime, consumerism took
the wheel to steer the food industry in
new directions, " Crews said. The result of
50 years of federal legislation and policy
affirmed consumers' rights and nurtured and
encouraged consumer consciousness.
USDA inspection ramped up.
Advancing technology continued to occupy
the pages of the magazine. For example, the
24 MEAT+POULTRY | 03.22 | www.meatpoultry.com
February 1975 issue carried a special threepart
report on mechanically deboned meat
for making sausages and other meat products
intended for human consumption.
In 1980, the Food and Drug Administration
issued its first Dietary Guidelines for
Americans, which suggested consumption of
" alternate proteins " for a part of an individual's
daily intake of food.
" Features about regulatory issues, from
labeling to beef grading, from environmental
rules to access to export markets as well as
dealing with unions became staple material, "
Bjerklie said. " From 1980 on, I don't think we
published an issue that didn't have at least one
story about regulatory matters, and usually
the focus was on Washington, DC, rather than
state capitals. "
The magazine swiftly reported the impact
of the 1993 E. coli O157:H7 episode that
occurred on the West Coast. That tragedy
upended processing systems and inspection
protocols. It was reported in the February 1993
issue, and later the same year, new regulatory
powers over pathogens were granted to USDA's
Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS).
By 1995, the HACCP protocol - little known
before 1990 - became the foundation of federal
meat inspection.
When introducing Sosland Publishing as
M+P's new owner in the October 1996 issue,
Sosland commented on the importance of
food safety initiatives to the industry and the
magazine. " The Pathogen Reduction/Hazard
Analysis Critical Control Point final rule is
going to change this industry, " he said, noting
that sanitary operating procedures, such as
HACCP plan development, implementation
of pathogen intervention technologies, plant
floor design and layout, as well as equipment
maintenance, would be regular topics for the
magazine's in-plant operations features.
Consumerism turned to the animal welfare
practices of meat processors. M+P covered
the 2008 voluntary recall by a California
meat packer of 143 million lbs of frozen beef
products - the biggest recall to date - following
an investigation into animal cruelty.
Technology isn't immune to regulatory
attention either. " A few landmark recalls
resulted in equipment companies producing
machines that feature sanitary design and easyto-clean
configuration, " Crews said.
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