With about 170 major injuries and 1,000 other injuries reported every year, the meat industry is one of the most dangerous sectors in the food and drink industry. Cutting, slicing and dicing equipment can be the cause of lethal accidents, and manufacturers are always innovating to improve safety on their machines.

L ast month, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) went ahead with its controversial plans to publish the names of meat plants it deemed a ‘cause for concern’. This has prompted a slew of furious comments from the industry, which said that the move had been badly handled and would lead to a confusing ‘league table’ of plants, based on subjective, inconsistent audits and historic information.


The mince market is not just about beef and lamb. Pork mince, although a small player in the total market, is starting to gain popularity and market share.

Spaghetti bolognese is off the menu,” screamed the Daily Mail last September. The paper claimed that the price of 
value-tier mince had broken the “psychologically important” £1 barrier for the first time in two years, with a 25% increase in pack prices making family staple spaghetti bolognese “too expensive” for British families. 


As nothing seems to stop the rise in input prices, processors are more inclined to cut costs on sauces and additives, leaving ingredients companies with a challenge. MRC brand manager Scott Dixon says: “The biggest issue we face at the moment is value for money. Companies are definitely trying to cut down, so we are being squeezed and doing the same to our suppliers.”

In October, the European Parliament adopted a motion aiming to tackle antimicrobial resistance by reducing the use of antibiotics both in human and veterinary medicine. Two weeks later, the Save our Antibiotics Alliance, composed of Compassion in World Farming (CIWF), the Soil Association and Sustain, sparked criticism with a report that called for a 50% cut in antibiotics in the farming sector by 2015.

The press this year has been filled with news of rising unemployment, with newspapers gleefully pouncing on figures of 1m young people out of work, as stagnant growth and fears of double-dip recession stifle investment and pitch the UK into a self-fulfilling spiral of decline.

The retail sector is still suffering from the recession, and saw its weakest sales growth for six months in November, with only 0.7%, according to the latest figures released by the British Retail Consortium (BRC). But as the overall sector struggles to stay on its feet, it is not all doom and gloom for the food industry. In fact, things are picking up, and inflation is even expected to go down in 2012. 

Refrigeration can account for as much as 70% of a meat plant’s energy consumption, particularly in abattoirs, so inefficiencies can have a huge impact on a business’ energy bills and carbon footprint. With another big hike in energy prices announced by the major suppliers this summer and a 15% reduction in the discount on the Climate Change Levy introduced in April, things are only set to get worse. But refrigeration does not have to cost the earth. With some well-placed investment and careful maintenance, it is possible to reduce energy bills and environmental impact, from the kill right through to the shop floor.

Despite the economic uncertainties in Ireland following the multi-billion euro rescue package in November 2010, the Irish meat and livestock industry has proved remarkably resilient during the last year, driven primarily by the strength of its export market. With the agricultural sector maintaining its position as the country’s largest indigenous industry and accounting for one in seven jobs, the agri-food sector has been recognised as key to rallying Ireland out of its economic stupor and lead it back to growth.

Describing some of the incidents of alleged bullying reported by his staff in recent months, Food Standards Agency (FSA) head Tim Smith gives the impression of someone who has seen — and heard — about as much as he is willing to put up with.

“It seems clear to me, for as long as I have been here, that in very small numbers of plants, but at a very unpleasant and unwelcome level, there has been systematic and routine bullying and harassment of our staff,” he says.

History has it that French King Henry IV, who was famous for showing great care for the welfare of his subjects, once proclaimed: “I want there to be no peasant in my realm so poor that he cannot have a chicken in his pot every Sunday.” Ex-US president Herbert Hoover went on to paraphrase the benevolent monarch for his 1928 election campaign, with advertisements promising “a chicken in every pot” if the Republicans won power.

Over 170 beef and lamb producers and processors gathered at the 2011 Eblex conference last month to discuss the industry’s strengths and opportunities for improvement. Despite high price volatility and lingering health concerns, the outlook for UK beef and lamb is positive, but according to Eblex chairman John Cross, the industry must optimise opportunities presented by global markets and technical advances.

The rise of the premium sausage has helped speed up developments in terms of product flavour and nutritional content. The growth of gourmet sausages has given a boost to gluten-free versions, with higher meat content and improved recipes providing a tastier alternative than was previously available.

The key trend in the foodservice sector, as in the retail market, has been the improving quality of sausages. Companies specialising in the sector are reporting strong demand for a better-quality sausage, which has helped the market to improve in recent years — despite the squeeze on prices.

As red meat takes another round of battering in the press, and sales across the fresh-meat sector fluctuate, the nation’s love affair with the great British sausage seems set to continue, despite gloomy summer weather during key barbecue months, the continued squeeze on household budgets, and rising pork prices.

The meat industry may soon be able to send its waste plastic packaging trays and film for recycling into high-quality diesel fuel rather than incinerating it or sending it to landfill. 


Specialist solicitor Catherine Henney, from Eversheds, highlights five common pitfalls that 
health-and-safety lawyers frequently see

World markets fluctuate. You only have to look at the cost of filling up a family car to witness this at its most basic level. In the casings sector, where once it was hog that was causing all the woe, now read sheep, which has increased by around a third in the space of a year.

Campylobacter, the bacteria most commonly responsible for food poisoning, made 198,252 ill in Europe in 2009. According to the EU’s food-borne illnesses summary report, it affected nearly twice the number of salmonella victims, who numbered 108,614, and vastly outstripped the 1,645 people made ill by listeria.

A dramatic past year for the British beef industry has seen record deadweight prices, strong domestic supply, rocketing exports and falling imports. However, high prices for producers are creating a challenging environment for processors supplying the UK market, which remains in recession mode.

In the month where the euro nearly faced collapse, crippled by the debt problems of Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Spain, it is good to know that the region is still of use somewhere. The continent is key to the export success of English lamb. Indeed, it is these exports (and those of Welsh and Scottish lamb) that have been the good news story in the lamb sector in the past 12 months.

With the Glorious Twelfth hoving into view, thoughts are beginning to turn towards heath and moorland as the season beckons for that most traditional of produce, wild game.

Rising fuel costs and carbon footprint reduction remain key concerns – and drivers of innovation – for logistics providers servicing the meat industry in 2011.

Halal meat has rarely been out of the headlines over the past few months, with cries of indignation from the less salubrious end of the tabloid press over issues surrounding the labelling of products as halal.
While, as one might expect, the papers have missed the point, be that intentionally or otherwise, and have focused on the issues surrounding stunning, there remains a major issue when it comes to labelling of halal meat.

Harnessing and highlighting the environmental positives behind its hilly grass-based production and adding value to its abundant, high-quality raw material are among strategies aimed at sustaining a successful Northern Irish beef and lamb industry.

There can be no doubt that the global demand for pork is huge. A recent study by the agricultural lender Rabobank claims that demand for the meat will grow by 43% to 142 million tonnes (mt) by 2030, ahead of a sheep meat increase of 25% and an improvement in beef consumption of 35%. On top of this, the volume of sales is up in the UK too.

It was the year 1992 that the Queen declared as her annus horribilis. And while the past 12 months have not quite been that for the abattoir sector, they also fall far short of  being an annus mirabilis - or ‘year of wonder’ too. To some, the industry is beseiged from all sides.

The Welsh red meat industry has undergone dramatic changes over the past two years.

"It has become the elephant in the room; everybody sees it, everybody is talking about it, but the damn thing won’t go away.”

Sales of ready meals may be buoyant, with premium global cuisines and healthier formulations driving new product development, but tough trading conditions prevail for manufacturers.

The meat and poultry industries are a safer place to work than they were 10 years ago — partly thanks to safer machinery and higher awareness among workers.

During MTJ's first ever TwitterDebate we discussed the issues surrounding sustainable meat production...

No-one, it seems, can resist a bacon butty, even in a downturn. With doom-laden newspapers reminding Britain of the faltering high street and cuts still to come, the bacon sector has continued to grow over the year, despite a backdrop of economic uncertainty, rising wheat prices and the ongoing crisis facing pig farmers.

There is no doubt that the burger market is mature. They are such a staple — both at home and in the foodservice domain — that most people are unable to say when or where they first had a burger.

The cooked meat market seems to have weathered last year’s tough economic climate extremely well, emerging from the darkest recesses of the downturn with renewed vigour and increased sales. However, despite an apparent stabilisation in the market, heavy promotion by the major retailers may have been behind some of the increase in sales and some in the industry fear the situation may be unsustainable.

Developments in IT offering greater functionality and tailoring present an opportunity for businesses of all sizes across the meat trade to improve profit margins via enhanced efficiency and traceability, finds Alyson Magee.

People are travelling much farther afield than the traditional holiday resorts of Europe; as a consequence, they are being exposed to an ever-increasing range of sophisticated foods and tastes. The result is a willingness, indeed a desire, to experience those same tastes and flavours in food purchased in the UK.

Pork has been riding high on the hog for the last 12 months, with cash-strapped consumers looking for a more affordable option within the red meat category. But with beef prices starting to tumble, have the days of pork bringing home the bacon come to an end?