Hygiene stringent in U.S.

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33067, 7 November 1972, Page 34

Hygiene stringent in U.S.

New Zealand meat processors are not the only people who have been under pressure to improve hygiene standards in their industry.

Mr John Mohay, executive vice-president of the National Independent Meat Packers’ Association, who arrived in Christchurch at the week-end with a party of 15 American meat men and their wives, said that the meat packing industry in his country had been spending millions of dollars improving hygiene procedures and in plant construction.

Most of the big packers had had to replace old plants, because reconstruction costs would have been too high, and now few old plants were left, he said. Most of the plants of his association’s members, who comprised 65 to 70 per cent of the United States beef slaughterers and processors, were less than 10 years old—the oldest was only 14 years old. In some plants there were as many as 13 Federal inspectors reviewing all phases of operations, he said. The party has already been in Australia and while in New Zealand, for more than a week, will be visiting freezing works, farms, the Meat Industry Research Institute, and Ruakura. I With the suspension of i voluntary quotas on beef im-

ports into the United States a few months ago, Mr Mohay said that it was anticipated that an extra 50,000 tons of meat would be imported this year, so that there would be no shortage of manufacturing type beef. But with the world shortage of beef, prices had risen considerably and in the last summer in the United States sales of frankfurters and hot dogs had declined about 17 per cent. While some of this decline could be attributed to price, Mr Mohay said that the activity of the so-called consumer protectionists might also be a factor.

The industry was under constant harrassment from “these people,” who started their attacks on the basis of price, blaming the middlemen for price rises and also challenged the use of ingredients and additives in meat products. Unfortunately, said Mr Mohay, they did not understand why additives were used and their role in improving products and they had

resurrected some very questionable reports published in the 19305, which could not be substantiated, to support their case. Unfortunately, too, people frequently did not read the replies that were made to their allegations. KILLING YOUNGER

Of locally produced beef supplies in the United States, Mr Mahay said that slaughterings were now running at about 620,000 head a week, which was up slightly, but the industry was not sure whether it might not be delving into supplies that would be regarded as next year’s cattle. Animals were now being put into feedlots at a younger age and lighter weight, he said. One thing that the visitors are learning in the course of their Pacific visit is that New Zealand and Australian meat are two different products. Mr Mohay said that while the United States was almost totally dependent on Australia and New Zealand for meat imports, the industry did not differentiate between the products of the two countries—99 per cent of imports were done through brokers in the United States, and the in-

dustry received whatever meat'the brokers had available to them at the time unless they specified the source.

But the meat men were now learning how to obtain supplies direct, he said.