The Pork Business
World-wide, more pork is consumed per person than any other meat, poultry, or fish product. Pork meat is sold uncooked or processed to create an array of fresh, cured, canned, and dried products.
Along the way, some parts of the pigs are utilized for industrial purposes too, from oils and fats to skin for leather.
Harvesting Pigs
Turning live pigs into food products starts with harvest, the process in which the animal is slaughtered and cut up into various parts. Some of these parts are sold as fresh meat, while others move on to further processing. The harvesting process requires close attention to sanitation, animal welfare, and worker safety to assure high quality, safe pork, and healthy workers.
Processing Pork
Food safety requires that all pork products be processed to destroy any bad bugs that are in or on the products and could make humans ill. Processing is also important for shelf life, to keep the product fresh and high quality until consumed.
Cooking over a fire was likely the first pork processing method, and heat remains one of the most commonly used methods today. However, cooked meat doesn’t last long without refrigeration. Until the advent of refrigeration, smoking and drying were used to preserve pork. Non-thermal processing methods include curing with salt or other preservatives, and more recently the use of high pressure.