WSU Thurston County

720 Sleater Kinney RD SE

Suite Y

Lacey WA  98503

360-786-5445

360-455-1575 (fax)

Thurston County Extension

Food Safety: All About Foods

Cold is Prime Consideration for Meat

The Olympian, October 14, 1998

Meat and poultry are two of the most perishable food items in our refrigerators.  From the farm to your dining room table, meat and poultry products must be kept chilled to ensure safety.  Let's focus on the "science" behind the processing and storage of meat and poultry products.

QUESTION:  How is meat and poultry chilled at the processing plant?

ANSWER:  Remember the temperature danger zone between 40 degrees F and 140 degrees F?  Immediately after slaughter, meat and poultry products are chilled as quickly as possible.  Red meat carcasses are usually chilled in blast coolers filled with rapidly moving cold air.  Poultry products are chilled in ice or mixtures of ice and water.  Some processing plants may use cold water sprays to cool the product.

Laws require that meat and poultry products be cooled rapidly reducing the temperature below the danger zone.  Processors follow time and temperature guidelines carefully?

QUESTION:  I've noticed that some meat is vacuumed packed.  What does this mean ?

ANSWER:  When food are exposed to oxygen, air often hastens spoilage and reduces quality.  Scientists have developed packaging techniques and materials that help overcome the effects of oxygen.

Vacuum packing removes air from packages.  Another type of packaging  called MAP or modified atmosphere packaging is used with meat and poultry products.  In this method, some or all the oxygen is replaced with other gases like carbon dioxide or nitrogen.

MAP also helps to reserve foods.  You can find lots of examples of vacuum packaging and MAP in the grocery store:   Blister packs of lunch meat, fresh turkeys, and raw beef briskets and beef filets in vacuum packaging.  Vacuum packing and MAP extends shelf life.

B. Susie Craig

Area Faculty

WSU Cooperative Extension Thurston County

WSU Extension programs and employment are available to all without discrimination.  Evidence of noncompliance may be reported through your local Extension Office.   Cooperating agencies: Washington State University, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the county of Thurston.

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