Mechanically separated meat (MSM), mechanically recovered/reclaimed meat (MRM), or mechanically deboned meat (MDM) is a paste-like meat product produced by forcing pureed or ground beef, pork, turkey or chicken, under high pressure through a sieve or similar device to separate the bone from the edible meat tissue. It is sometimes called white slime as an analog to meat-additive pink slime and to meat extracted by advanced meat recovery systems, both of which are different processes. The process entails pureeing or grinding the carcass left after the manual removal of meat from the bones and then forcing the slurry through a sieve under pressure. This puree includes bone, bone marrow, skin, nerves, blood vessels, and the scraps of meat remaining on the bones. The resulting product is a blend primarily consisting of tissues not generally considered meat along with a much smaller amount of actual meat (muscle tissue). In some countries such as the United States, these non-meat materials are processed separately for human and non-human uses and consumption. The process is controversial; Forbes, for example, called it a "not-so-appetizing meat production process".
Mechanically separated meat has been used in certain meat and meat products, such as hot dogs and bologna sausage, since the late 1960s. However, not all such meat products are manufactured using an MSM process. In fact, many are not, particularly in the U.S. For the production of chicken and turkey MSM, most of the time, breast carcasses are used as they still contain parts of breast meat.
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History
The practice of mechanically harvesting leftover meat scraps dates to the 1950s, when mechanical hand tools were developed to help remove the remaining pieces of meat and connective tissue from animal carcasses to minimize waste, although said tissues were not automatically or necessarily "wasted" when used for other purposes. Primarily MSM was developed in and produced in countries with agriculture industries insufficiently productive to provide mass quantities of regularly processed meat for widespread and affordable consumption. By the 1960s, machines that did this more efficiently, and automatically, were developed. This allowed companies to use previously wasted materials and, in turn, sell the derived meat products to the public for a lower price. During the 1970s, these techniques became more common in other parts of the world, as well. In addition to poultry slaughterhouses, newcomers entered the market as they recognized the financial gains that mechanically separated meat processing allowed. Eastern European countries, especially, are known for their import of frozen chicken MSM.
During the 1950s, mechanically separated meat was mostly used as a raw material for the production of hot dogs. Currently, luncheon meats, burgers, and mortadella are regularly made from MSM.
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Safety and regulation
Questions arose in the 1980s as to the safety of mechanically separated meat. In 1982, a report published by U.S. Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) on mechanically separated meat said it was safe and established a standard of identity for the food product. Some restrictions were made on how much can be used and the type of products in which it can be used. These restrictions were based on concerns for limiting intake of certain components in mechanically separated meat, such as calcium. Mechanically separated meat may not be described simply as "meat" on food labels, but must be labeled as "mechanically separated" pork, chicken, or turkey in the ingredients statement. Hot dogs can contain no more than 20% mechanically separated pork.
Concerns were raised again when the bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) epidemic, commonly known as "mad cow disease", occurred in the United Kingdom in 1986. Since bits of the spinal cord (the part most likely to be carrying the BSE virus) often got mixed in with the rest of the meat, products using mechanically separated meat taken from the carcasses of bovines were at higher risk for transmitting BSE to humans. As a result, in 1989, the United Kingdom tightened restrictions to help ensure pieces of the spinal cord would not be present in mechanically separated meat taken from bovines. In the mid-1990s, the UK government banned MRM from cattle backbone, in 1998 MRM from any ruminant backbone and in August 2001 from any ruminant bone. In 2001, the government prohibited the sale of MRM beef for human consumption to prevent the spread of bovine spongiform encephalopathy.
Similar United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) rules became effective November 4, 1996, and were later updated, stressing:
Due to FSIS regulations enacted in 2004 to protect consumers against bovine spongiform encephalopathy, mechanically separated beef is considered inedible and is prohibited for use as human food. It is not permitted in hot dogs or any other processed product.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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