Producing safe food
should be the ultimate goal of any agri-food system enterprise. By the time the
meat reaches the consumer’s kitchen, they should be assured of the many safety
measures taken by these companies to deliver fresh and quality meat. Big brand
names are not enough to guarantee the viability of the meat we purchase.
The problem lies with
the company’s delivery system. Most companies contract third parties to deliver
freshly slaughtered meat with no proper monitoring systems on the trucks'
temperature and travel time. It is common knowledge that some of these
contractors turn off the truck’s refrigeration system during travel to lessen
fuel costs. Proper handling of products during delivery also plays a key
role in maintaining quality. Dropping of products directly to the floor, or
carrying carcasses on the bare backs of handlers are common practices, which compromise
the product.
The meat supplier’s
delivery system is usually where it falls short. Meat producers may have the
best plants with state of the art facilities but if they have a poor delivery
system, the whole process to keep the quality of the meat is compromised.
A local producer that has gained the growing trust of
Filipino meat consumers is RDF Feed, Livestock & Foods, Inc. (RDFFLFI) has
introduced a unique cold chain process to ensure the quality of meat they sell.
From the slaughterhouse or dressing plants to dispatching to the delivery of
animal protein, RDF guarantees its freshness.
Livestock and poultry are prepared differently at the
start of the cold chain process.
For pork, the cold
chain process starts in the slaughterhouse where carcasses are placed in a
refrigerated 10-wheeler truck that transfers carcass to the central depot. This
process cools down the internal temperature of hot carcasses. At the central
depot, the internal temperature of the carcasses reaches 36 to 39 degree Celsius.
It will then be stored in the holding room with the room temperature of -10 to
-15 degrees Celsius to cool down the carcass internal temperature to 7 degrees
Celsius below before cutting.
PRE-COOLED HOLDING ROOM
The holding room is
precooled an hour prior to the arrival of the carcasses. After pre-washing and
sanitizing using chlorinated water at 0 to 3 degree Celsius, carcasses are
transferred to the pre-cooled holding room and stored for 14 to 16 hours or
until it reaches an internal temperature of less than 7 degree Celsius. The
carcasses are then sent to the fabrication area, cooled at 10 to 15 degree
Celsius, for primal cutting.
DRESSING
PLANT
For chicken, the cold
chain process starts in the dressing plant. Dressed chickens are passed through
two chilling vat washers to sanitize the carcasses and cool the chicken internal
temperature down to 4 degrees Celsius. The first chilling vat has chlorinated
chilled water with a temperature of 8 to 12 degrees Celsius. The second vat has
chlorinated water cooled to 0 to 3 degrees Celsius. Chilled dressed chicken
will then be placed in crates lined with plastic and filled with crushed ice.
For beef, the holding
room is pro-cooled an hour before the arrival of the carcasses. After
pre-washing and sanitizing with chlorinated water at 0 to 3 degrees Celsius,
the carcasses are transferred to the pre-cooled holding room.
After the initial
process, all items are then stored in a freezer. Warehousemen will then prepare
the orders from each store, all done under a room temperature of 10 degrees. Ordered
items will then be stored in the anteroom, cooled to 10 degrees Celsius. An
assigned personnel regularly monitors the temperature of all products in the
storage area. Proper storing of products in crates and proper spacing per crate
is strictly monitored to ensure that there is a balanced cool airflow inside
the room.
DISPATCHING
During the
dispatching process, items are checked by the dispatcher, drivers and crew to
make sure that items declared on the document have the same weight as that of the
actual product. This process happens in a temperature-controlled room,
pre-cooled prior to the actual dispatch.
Prior to loading,
trucks are pre-cooled up to 4 degree Celsius. Products are then carefully
transferred to the trucks. During the trip, the temperature of the truck’s
refrigeration is monitored through a GPS system with random checks by the
staff during the entire trip.
When the products
reach the retail outlets, stocks are placed in a 6-door storage chiller
freezer, while items for selling are displayed in 3-door freezers to maintain
the cold chain process.
RDF facilities from
production to delivery and retail outlets are all owned and operated by the
company. Customers can be assured that RDF has control in every part of the
cold chain process. RDF has also Quality Assurance field representatives to regularly
check the products sold in the stores.
The cold chain
process is very important for consumers to ensure their safety when buying meat
products. Perishable goods are temperature sensitive, any inturruption in the
process will greatly affect the quality of the product. The cold chain process
reaffirms RDF’s commitment to the consumers of bringing safe and quality food
to their tables.
