Are factories making the grade on carcase trim?

The Department of Agriculture has refused to identify the factories that received €200 penalties for carcase trim this year, nor would it say if the farmers whose cattle were involved have been informed. Under EU legislation on carcase classification and dressing, if the carcase is not properly presented at the weigh scale (excessive trim), an adjustment should be made to the final weight.

In a fat class three animal, where all external fat is removed (an extreme scenario), the carcase weight should be increased by 2%. On a 350kg carcase, that is an extra 7kg.

What the legislation says

EU-wide rules around how a beef carcase should be graded, and also dressed and trimmed, at the weigh scale go back to the days of intervention buying of beef, although in more recent times it is about providing price transparency for farmers across all member states.

The most recent rules are set out in Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) No 2017/1182 and Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 2017/1184.

Enforcement

They make it clear that responsibility for ensuring that everything is done correctly falls to national governments. All carcases must be graded to the correct standard (EUROP grading scale) for both fat and conformation, the weigh scales should be accurate, and all carcases must be properly dressed and trimmed at the weigh scale.

During that dressing and trimming process, the head is removed, along with the feet, the hide, tail, liver, spleen, kidneys, lungs etc and also the spinal cord. In addition, EU rules allow factories to remove the likes of kidney, pelvic and cod fat, as well as fat on the inside of the topside. It all combines together into an EU reference specification that must be applied to all carcases at the time of grading and weighing.

an inspector has the power to enter a premises at any reasonable time

Variation in NI and Scotland

In the UK, abattoir owners are also allowed to use a UK reference specification at the point of weighing, which means factories can trim the bed fat and brisket fat (to leave a covering of fat). When the UK reports official beef prices (on a per kg basis) to the European Commission, the actual prices paid to UK farmers are adjusted downwards by 1% to allow for this extra trimming before the weigh scale.

The EU legislation applies to abattoirs that slaughter an average of more than 150 cattle per week. These abattoirs must be checked by government inspectors (the competent authority) at least twice each quarter, and each check should involve at least 40 carcases. Inspections should be done without warning, and domestic law is clear that an inspector has the power to enter a premises at any reasonable time.

Inspection process

So what will an inspector be looking for during a check? Firstly, they will make sure the grading is to the correct standard, whether it is done using automated grading techniques (video imaging analysis) or by a manual grader (who must hold a licence to grade cattle). Secondly, they should be looking at the dressing standard at the weigh scale.

In reality, perfection in carcase dressing is difficult to achieve. For example, a carcase could have been contaminated by a piece of dirt which will be legitimately removed by a meat hygiene operative on the line.

For an inspector checking the grading standard, they will be particularly on the lookout for damage due to the factory, such as a hide puller, which could mean excess fat is removed, especially from the top of the carcase. They will also watch out for excessive trimming of the fat over the brisket, or overzealous trimming of neck muscles by a factory worker.

With the introduction of video imaging analysis (VIA) cattle grading in Ireland in 2004, manual classification ceased for over 90% of the national kill. It then fell to a team of specialist staff in the Beef Carcase Classification Section within the Department to undertake unannounced inspections, with the sole purpose of checking that cattle grades were correct and that carcases were dressed in accordance with the EU reference specification as described above.

In 2017, there were 1,778,201 cattle graded in Irish beef factories, with just 172,389 of these graded manually, the rest by the VIA system. DAFM inspectors made 662 control visits during the year and in the process 59,227 carcases were checked for conformation and fat.

While there have been 21 penalties for non-conformance in carcase trimming in 2018 so far, there were no penalties applied in 2017.

There is a rollout of additional monitoring of carcase presentation by Department veterinary public health staff, with staff present in the factories when the kill is ongoing. This will be in addition to the inspection visits.

Grading checks in Northern Ireland

With beef carcase classification an EU requirement, the same rules are being applied north and south of the Irish border.

However, there are some subtle differences, with factories in Northern Ireland (NI) working to a UK reference specification at the weigh scale (as discussed above).

There are also a couple of smaller factories still using manual graders, although the seven large abattoirs all switched to VIA grading in 2011.

At that time, to instil some farmer confidence into the new grading process, it was agreed between factories, the Ulster Farmers’ Union and the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) that results of grading checks would be made available online.

The process is not fully transparent, as factories are not listed by name.

Also, the results are an average of results of checks done every two months, not each individual inspection result. But the fact that results are published is a step in the right direction, and helps to drive compliance.

What the results have shown since 2011 is that VIA has generally operated to a standard well above the minimum requirement (although there have been a number of instances where issues have been identified, and machines turned off). The results also suggest that just over 90% of carcases at the weigh scale are trimmed to the required standard.

Number

In terms of the number of checks, it is understood that DAERA technical inspectors generally do at least four, and sometimes up to six inspections in a factory every two months, checking up to 80 carcases each time.

Legislation

One important point to note is that DAERA inspectors are currently without legislative powers. The latest set of EU rules came into force on 11 July 2018, and NI is still to update its domestic legislation. It means inspectors are currently reliant on the goodwill of factories to be able to enter their premises.

Still some way to go in analysis of carcase trim

In Irish meat factories, the rollout of additional supervision by veterinary staff will be welcome and it will increase the surveillance of the carcase dressing process in factories. It is also positive that there is now a commitment for introduction of a payment to reflect any financial loss where the Department has applied a fine for trim. However, this isn’t particularly new, because where the inspection finds there has been excessive trim, EU legislation already provides for adding weight back to the carcase, 2% of carcase weight on fat score three carcases.

However, it is the unannounced inspection visits by experts from the classification unit that will continue to have the critical role in delivery of a consistent standard of carcase dressing. This would need to be enhanced dramatically if results of each inspection visit were published, with the factory identified for each inspection visit to allow farmers see which factories performed best. Inspectors also need instant access to the kill floor on arrival and not experience a time delaying process of form filling that creates a time delay which could be used to get the house in order.

The final step to building farmer confidence is the development of camera technology that can be used in the inspection process. We can analyse crisp clear images sent back from Mars to Earth. It has to be possible to do the same with carcase images from a beef factory. Scrutiny of factory trim is improving, but it still has a distance to travel.