Evaluations that increase value for pork export products
Date
2017
Authors
Sewald, Dan, author
Woerner, Dale R., advisor
Belk, Keith E., committee member
Mason, Gary, committee member
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Abstract
Experiment 1: An evaluation of the suitability of porcine lung tissue for human consumption. This study was conducted to provide evidence of the safety of pork lungs for human consumption via an assessment of prevalence of potentially pathogenic bacteria and infectious agents. Specifically, the goal was to collect evidence that could be used to petition the current regulation disallowing use of pork lungs for human food. Pork lungs have been labeled by the U.S. Meat Export Federation as a widely consumed product across Asia as well as South and Central America. It was believed that there is profit potential in saving pork lungs and exporting them to specified countries. Pork lungs must first be deemed safe and edible before they can be sold on the export market. Lungs (N = 288) were collected from a total of six federally inspected young market barrow/gilt or sow processing facilities. In an attempt to obtain a representative sample of production at each facility on a given day, lungs were randomly selected throughout the entire production day. All collected lungs were removed and processed using aseptic techniques to prevent any exogenous contamination. Lung samples were tested for the presence of pathogens and other physical contamination. Lungs did not test positive for Yersinia spp., Influenza, or Mycobacterium spp., and they contained low yeast and mold counts. However, multiple lung samples collected from both barrows/gilts and mature sows tested positive for Salmonella spp., Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli, Campylobacter, and Streptococcus suis. Also, half of the samples collected were found to contain aspirated plant material within the airways of the lungs. These results suggested that pork lungs are not safe and should not be saved for human consumption. Experiment 2: Pork Fibrin used as a meat binder in pork variety and offal meats. Fibrin is a cold set binding product that is created by recombining the two blood components of thrombin and fibrinogen. This study was conducted as a proof-of-concept to validate using fibrin derived from pork blood to create value-added export items from various pork offal and variety meats, hence adding value to both pork blood and pork offal/variety meats. Fibrin currently is marketed as Fibrimex® by Sonac, but the patent for producing fibrin expired leaving potential for U.S. pork operations to begin to produce their own fibrin and use it to create their own value-added products. A total of eight finished products were created in this study using Fibrimex® and pork offal/variety meats. Products for which use of the fibrin complex proved useful included a boneless baby back rib-like product made from pork jowl, a steak-like product made from diaphragms, a boneless hock, a log of skinned pork tongues, a pinwheel with pork diaphragm and cheese, a steak made from course ground heart and back fat, fresh bacon made from pork jowl, and a bung roll stuffed with liver, heart, and kidneys. These products were examples that demonstrated the binding capabilities of fibrin on offal/variety meats that differed in texture. All products were believed to have potential as successful export items. It was noted that fibrin could be added to many other meats to create additional products, including products that are of value within our country's own markets.