Someone tell me pls

Voodoo_rasher

What is the daily role of a meat factory inspector. Is it one of those jobs which sounds better than it actually is.

blue5000

IMHO it's to watch out for HORSE meat:p

greysides

EU law dictates that animals being slaughtered are subject to an ante-mortem examination (AME) and a post-mortem inspection (PME).

The AME is looking for signs of diseases that would not be detectable on PME such as Meningitis, Scrapie. It also prevents animals whose carcases would be condemned anyway from potentially contaminating the killing line (Gangrenous mastitis, aborted ewes with retained cleanings, ewes with dead lambs hanging out, for example). These days there is also a strong animal welfare component. Sometimes a Notifiable Disease such as Sheep Scab may be detectable, maybe even Foot and Mouth Disease.

The PME includes the carcase itself but also all offal that may be used..... and very little goes to waste... so 'plucks' (lungs/liver) and guts are examined but also heads, testicles, tongues etc. Sometimes it is necessary to condemn a complete carcase (Polyarthritis, Emaciation, Multiple abscesses) or a part of the carcase (Joint ill, abscess, Pneumonia) in which case the inspector, acting as an independent body, certifies the reason for the condemnation. Essentially the job is to ensure that what passes the inspection is clean and for for human consumption.

It's one of those vital background jobs which little is heard or known about but which underpin the safety of the food you and your family eat.

Most people unwittingly are making some huge assumptions when they pick up meat to buy in the supermarket.......... and they aren't even aware they are making them. Food has just (virtually) always been safe to eat and it is just assumed to be so.

The problem with 'Horsegate' was not that horse meat shouldn't be eaten but that i) Not being there illegally it could not be certified as fit for consumption (it could have been taken from dead/decomposed animals), and ii) The consumer was being hood-winked as to what they were buying.

All that 'contamination' occurred well past veterinary inspection but it shows what can happen, which you wouldn't expect. Meat Inspection is there to safe-guard that area of the food chain. The meat industry is there to make money!