New lamb wrapping

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 34021, 10 December 1975, Page 2

New lamb wrapping

(From Our Own Reporter) TIMARU. Dec. 9. The shrinking of polythene on to YL lamb carcases for the first trial shipment to North American before Christmas was begun today at the Smithfield works of the New Zealand Refrigerating Company, Ltd.

Arranged by the Meat Export Development Company (N.Z.), Ltd (Devco) the experiment will be continued tomorrow by the packing development sections of U.E.B. Industries. Ltd, in conjunction with the Refrigerating Company. The experiment is being done on the coding floor, heat being applied to 750 lamb carcases, averaging from eight to 124 kg. The trial is a development of experiments for the British market, for which stockingette bags only are used.

Polythene and stockingette are being used for shipments of lamb to North America, but the shipment to North America of lamb treated by the new method is said to have many advantages. It is hygienic; there is a completely enclosing, smooth, impervious surface; it helps to overcome freezer-bum problems; and it enhances "bloom” on the carcase, adding to its atractiveness. “The ‘bloom’ will sell the product,” said Mr M. B. Goodhue (Wellington), the quality control supervisor for Devco. Mr Goodhue said much was vet to be done to ensure that the lamb wgs not blemished in transit to North America. Devco purchased from about 24 freezing works in New Zealand, and the experiment might be continued elsewhere in the country soon. “We are waiting for an evaluation of the trial shipment on the American market,” he said. Smithfield was one of the

main Devco meat processing works for the American market. LESS WEIGHT LOSS “The key is that generally lamb carcases have a 4j per cent deduction in weight loss. By shrink-wrapping, this is reduced to 1 per cent. On the market, lamb will weigh lib more when it reaches its destination; the new method of wrapping virtually eliminates lib weight loss per carcase in storage and transit,” said Mr Goodhue. The shipment will be assessed in New York by Mr A. Farrington, the products development manager of the New Zealand Lamb Company. Pennsylvania, a division of the Meat Export Development Company. Mr Farrington said that on occasions, carcases shipped to America in both polythene and stockinet wrappings would break, causing contamination. With the new type of bag—tight and sealed around the lamb—contamination in distribution should be reduced.