Hide removal practices are super critical to producing safe beef

WARNING: SOME PICTURES WITHIN THIS BLOG MAY BE DRAMATIC FOR SOME TO VIEW.

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"Animals are born who they are, accept it, and that is that.

They live with greater peace than people do.”

– Gregory Maguire, Wicked: "The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West.”

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When I was consulting at Westland Hallmark Meat Company (WHMC) in the mid 2000s, others and I were invited by IN-N-OUT Burger to attend their annual supplier workshop that lasted a "too-quick" two (2) days of learning, digesting and reflecting.

Each year IN-N-OUT would have a guest speaker from Academia to speak to the raw beef suppliers of the latest tricks of the trade involving beef harvesting.

One year they had a personal hero of mine over the years - a certain Dr. Kerri Harris from Texas A&M who was the honored guest speaker in 2008.

Lucky me - again.

Dr. Harris taught me something that I have since cross-pollinated to others who make a living harvesting (slaughtering) livestock.

It truly makes a difference when hand skinning/trimming 1,500 pound hanging bull carcasses that requires workers to be strategically positioned on both the harvest ground floor and elevated platforms - fully equipped with lots of PPE and razor sharp knives, hock cutters, and splitting carcass saws so big that they require a weight to counter balance the weight of the splitter - who rides up an down an elevator all day to split the carcass in half. (more on this particular stage of operations next week).

Not too unlike a Science-Fiction B movie of the 60s - the whole carcass displays unique "twitching muscles" all their merry way via a revealing HACCP flow chart and an ergonomically sound overhead rail system - finally to a holding carcass hot box for a one night stay with exclusive timed cold showers - till the strike of dawn.

It's called a two-knife system.

Whether one is using a knife, steels, air knifes or a hock cutter, whatever is being used to take off the hide one simply has an extra knife and steel placed into an oversized knife sterilizer that measures at least 180 degrees F., or more.

Customized hot water sterilizers are used to "dippty do" the heavier mobile equipment just described in scalding bubbling hot water as well.

Dr. Harris published a study evincing that knife sterilizers are only effective (removal of bacteria) if they are placed into a knife sterilizer for four (4) to six (6) seconds time duration. (Also changing out the knife sterilizers water is critical as well).

The two-knife system has proven to be so simple, so smart, and oh so pragmatic and effective.

The good folks at IN-N-OUT Burger who address their employees as "Associates," are aplomb, super creative and VERY pro-active in their day-to-day quest to remain one of the most succesfull hamburger chains in the western states.

And they R.

IN-N-OUT "Gets It" - and then some - when it comes to safe beef and occupational safety of their valuable and loyal workers.

Their hamburgers are pretty darn good too - Trust Me. And yes - in case you were wondering - we were offered "all you could eat" Animal Style Burgers at their exclusive and impressive - "Associate Training Academy."

Of course I had ordered in the morning my usual "Dr. Pepper on the rocks, please," to an always happy IN-N-OUT Associate to go with my burger and animal fries.

But as fate would have it, it was the very same day that the Washington Post announced to the world (after first asking Westland Hallmark Meat Company for a comment) the tragic events of egregious treatments of cattle at WHMC that would in time, result with the largest Red Meat Recall in US history.

I received a call from WHMC only thirty (30) minutes into listening to Dr. Harris speak wisdom when I was asked to come back to the slaughter plant.

Videos of defenseless downer cattle being dragged and pushed by propane powered forklifts, hit, kicked, even water boarded and poked with battery powered probes by corral employees of WHMC - was about to be announced on all TV news channels.

147.2 million pounds of beef.

Two (2) years worth of hard and dedicated work, millions of dollars spent on refurbishing the plant that had been awarded a year earlier as the National School Lunch "Supplier of the Year" award - all down the proverbial point(less) drain.

Yes, the WHMC debacle triggered me to become an humane handling auditor - ASAP - and enter and explore into the expansive and always enticing world of working with Zeus' feed animals.

Reflecting back - I'm glad I did.

"That kind of Sick-O crap (WHMC) won't ever happen on my friggen watch," I recall thinking to myself - time - after time.

Today, some 14 years later, I still remain speechless in the manner in which the livestock were so terribly mis-treated ... .

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One of the more critical areas within the continuum of beef slaughter is preparing for and removing the hide. The hide acts as a natural reservoir of pathogens and must be removed carefully to avoid cross contamination of the exposed carcass.

Know that most of the "Big Packers" who have the space and money to scrub wash the cattle hides prior to dressing get a good start of eliminating extraneous materials from the hide using this smart and effective pathogenic intervention - while other small harvesting plants use a garden hose to clean off as much extraneous material as possible in the corrals. Of course not all plants can wash down cattle year around because of inclement weather.

Multiple hands and tools are coming into direct contact to the burgeoning exposed areas of the carcasses at this stage of harvesting operations.

And because of this, the previous preventive measures (positive air flow from hide-off to hide-on, double knife / tools system, personal hygiene practices) that were covered in previous blogs become even more magnified leading up to hide removal.

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Tying of the bung?

Using a knife, a circular cut around the anus is made (including the vulva in females) while pulling outwards and cutting the attachments to the pelvic cavity. Normally a plastic bag is used to place the contents of the bung (to preclude leakage) into the bag and is secured with a tying device. The bagged bung is pushed back into the carcass cavity. Afterwards, some plants wisely elect to trim around the cavity with a knife followed by a GRAS approved anti-bacterial spray to the area.

Rim over the line ?

A knife cut from a point in the abdominal (middle under side) region, near the aitchbone is made down to the sternum. This penultimate step prior to the hide puller prepares the hide to be pulled.

Open the fore shanks

The fore shanks are opened with a knife as the carcass is further exposed and being prepared for the hide puller.

Hide Removal ?

The front legs of the hanging whole carcass are tied down with chains. Another pair of chains are attached to the hide made possible by the rim over the line process.

Employees equipped with air knives or conventional knives are situated on each side of the hanging carcass to assist the hide as it is skinned away from the carcass. In instances where the hide to the tail remains attached, a plastic bag is tied to the tail to eschew cross contamination. A prudent slaughter SSOP would place all four chains of the hide puller into hot water 180 degrees F., or more sanitizers between usages.

A generic template of a HACCP hazardous analysis regarding hide removal would read:

Process Step Overview:

The act of skinning at the harvest step can cause cross-contamination to the otherwise sterile carcass if proper dressing procedures are not followed. A two- (2) knife tool system shall ensure that the knife is sterilized when taken from the hot water sterilizer, whose hot water is to be at least 180 degrees F. or more for four (4) to six (6) seconds. In addition, good personal hygiene practices must be followed regarding hands, gloves and aprons.

HAZARD ANALYSIS LOGIC:

CHEMICAL:

None identified at this time.

PHYSICAL:

None identified at this time.

BIOLOGICAL:

Pathogens. We know that the hide is a potential reservoir for pathogens. Working with the hide can introduce pathogens from the outside that may contaminate the otherwise sterile carcass. Therefore, we acknowledge that subsequent steps must be taken to try to prevent, eliminate or reduce pathogens to an acceptable level. We?have identified subsequent steps involving trimming, hot water pasteurization, steam vacuuming and lactic acid spraying that reduces/eliminates pathogens.

Potential Hazards???????

P. Physical – None.

C. Chemical – None.

B. Biological (Pathogens:?E. coli?O157:H7, 6 NONE-O157:H7 STECS).?The hide is a known source / reservoir of pathogens. Potential for pathogen introduction from hide: may introduce pathogens to the carcass.?

O. Other - BSE. None.

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Significant risk(s)???

P. Physical - No.

C. Chemical – No.

B. Biological - Yes.?

O. Other - No.

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Justification for decision and applicable hazard control measures?

Contamination from the hide could occur at this step of operations. Subsequent steps (lactic acid, Zero Tolerance Inspection, steam vacuums, hot water rinse, product chilling) have shown to reduce pathogens to lower / undetectable levels.

Is it a CCP?

B. Biological – No.

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Like peeling an orange, there are multiple ways the hide can be removed. Most agree that the motion of removing the hide is starting from top to the bottom (floor), rather than from the bottom to the top, which can cause splashing and airborne dust with pathogens getting a free ride to Oh No O157:H7 land.

Once the hide is removed, and if the slaughter plant has been engineered correctly, the hide can be sent down a chute into a basement and becomes completely segregated from the kill floor.

The (smart and pre-planned) use of video cameras and still cameras can be helpful to monitor the employee’s personal hygiene practices at this stage of operations. Slow motion video footage is ideal not only for needed production corrections, but also is an excellent employee training tool for both new and existing employees: including of course - occupational safety.

As stated in previous blogs, companies that?overly depend?on their downstream science-based pathogenic interventions in the likes of steam vacuums, hot water pasteurization and organic acid sprays are heading for Little Big Horn.

The Golden Key Area(s) that need to be closely monitored and SUPER Vigilant on, are back upstream at the hide dressing procedures from the corrals to and including evisceration.

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On Monday, we’ll cover upper and lower pre-evisceration steam vacuuming and the always critical evisceration process.?

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NOTE: Dr. Kerri B. Harris is associate professor in the meat science section of the Department of Animal Science and president and CEO of the International HACCP Alliance. Harris is a three-time graduate of Texas A&M University. She received her bachelor’s in food science in 1986, master’s in nutrition in 1989, and doctorate in nutrition in 1994. She completed a dietetic internship in July 1989 and passed the American Dietetic Association’s registration exam in October 1989.

She has been actively involved with the HACCP Alliance since it was formed in March 1994, and has contributed to the growth and accomplishments of the Alliance.

Prior to becoming the president and CEO of the HACCP Alliance, Harris served as associate director and helped standardize HACCP training programs, assisted with the development of the train-the-trainer course and the accreditation program for HACCP training providers. She received a USDA grant to lead the efforts to develop ten generic HACCP models for USDA. The International HACCP Alliance is recognized worldwide as a resource for HACCP and food safety activities.

Though we met several times, I clearly recall meeting Dr. Harris on three (3) other separate occasions. She is, for others and myself, a living legend in the meat industry.

She is special.

Thank you Dr. Harris for your myriad contributions to our industry.

From a career long admirer.

6/12/2014 meatingplace.com (updated 2/10/2022)