MeatingPod

Worker injury rates in the U.S. poultry industry posted a significant decline in the last 29 years and this week’s MeatingPod guest explains how this milestone was achieved through innovation, education and collaboration. Matt Spencer is vice president of human resources and safety programs at USPOULTRY, which monitors trends industrywide. He notes that poultry processors were eager to share new a...

Dr. Denise Heard, vice president of Research Programs at the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association, updates recent results from research partially funded by the organization known primarily as USPOULTRY. She also outlines how the process works regarding the research support arms of the association and its USPOULTRY Foundation. Dr. Heard provides a sneak peek into the upcoming 2025 International Produ...

In this MeatingPod episode, Brad Johnson, CEO of Verde Farms, outlines the challenges and processes to maintain innovations and safety standards for the company’s line of 100% grass-fed and organic beef products. The Mass.-based processor is focused on keeping the lines of communications open with its retail customers in addition to conducting its own research on consumer trends. Verde Farms, he n...

The way Jeff “Trip” Tripician sees it, he didn’t leave his job as CEO of a conventional meat company to become CEO of the Dutch cultivated meat company Meatable; rather, he went from CEO of one meat company to another. After decades working to institute progressive practices within the U.S. meat industry, Trip is pushing the cultivated meat industry to progress by, essentially, helping them unders...

This episode centers on a process that offers assistance to meat processors seeking methods to make sustainability more effective and consistent. Ryan Jones of Indigo Ag works with a variety of consumer product companies by connecting them with supplies of low-carbon grain that is used in animal feed, resulting in reduced rates of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in cattle, for example. The company...

In this episode, Dr. Casey Owens and Dongyi Wang of the University of Arkansas discuss new advances in identifying quality defects on the chicken processing line and advances in robotics that can handle repetitive line functions like chicken hanging. Our guests also outline how students at the university are benefitting from internship opportunities that can open doors to other jobs in meat produc...

In this third episode of a three-part series, Anne-Marie Roerink, principal at 210 Analytics and the author of the annual Power of Meat report for the last 19 years, describes how consumers feel about food safety and innovation in meat products they purchase, prepare and eat. She also will outline how product lines recover after recalls from the consumer perspective and the successful job that pro...

U.S. consumers have a lot on their minds besides food, even as they’re standing in front of the supermarket’s display of meat or alt-meat packages. They’re keeping an eye on their kids, putting together a menu in their heads and gasping at the cost of proteins. An alt-meat brand has between 7 and 17 seconds to sell itself to a typical U.S. shopper. Those aren’t great odds, but Chris DuBois has som...

Dr. Konrad Ahlin, senior robotics researcher at the Georgia Tech Research Institute provides updates on the use of flexible automated systems, robotics, artificial intelligence and virtual reality in food processing plants. In this episode, he outlines how these advances are affecting plant workers and refining specific operations, like movement of product and maintaining yields throughout the pro...

Just in time for Thanksgiving 2024, Butterball LLC Chief Operating Officer Neal Walsh updates MeatingPod on the turkey processor’s recent automation upgrades and addresses supply questions in the wake of declining avian influenza outbreaks among birds this year. Butterball’s Head of Innovation Michelle Lieszkovszky also will join the conversation to discuss a revolutionary new Butterball turkey th...

Maintaining proper food safety protocols can directly impact a processor’s profitability because overall it makes managing operations more efficient as well as affecting brand protection efforts, according to Tim Vlcek, a food safety consultant and also the CEO of a direct-to-consumer meat business. In this episode, he outlines the connection between maintaining consistent food safety standards th...

Several companies across several continents are blazing a trail to a future cultivated meat market for consumers — and they’ve run into slippery slopes and rock slides. One company that has run into fewer obstacles is Australia’s Vow. Known for adding a dollop of showmanship to its hard-core R&D, Vow is both producing a product that’s consistently available on the market and promising new anno...

A special panel of three specialists in virology and veterinary medicine will offer specific updates on how various forms of the H5N1 strain of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) have affected U.S. birds, dairy cows and even humans in recent years. Our power trio of experts will focus on viral mutations, cross-species migration and what lessons the poultry industry might be able to offer reg...

Now that USDA’s Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) has issued its final ruling designating Salmonella as an adulterant in raw, breaded and stuffed chicken products, poultry processors may soon be required take another look at their operations. In this episode, Dr. John Maurer from the School of Animal Sciences at Virginia Tech will outline some of the options available to the makers of such pre...

Food safety veteran Sharon Beals provides her perspectives on what food manufacturers need to know about continuing the learning process when it comes to protecting workers and customers from foodborne illnesses. In the wake of the recent listeria outbreak that sent nearly 60 people to the hospital and played a role in the deaths of at least nine people, Beals notes that deli meat processor Boar’s...

All meat analogue companies face a potentially huge hurdle right out of the gate: The cost of the physical plant necessary to make their particular foodstuffs, whether in the form of bioreactors or extruders or mixers, or any of an endless number of other pieces of equipment. And that doesn’t account for the cost of running and maintaining and manning a facility. Many founders are vowing to build...

In this second episode of a three-part series, Anne-Marie Roerink, principal at 210 Analytics and the author of the annual Power of Meat report for the last 19 years, will explain whether consumers understand or care about the millions of dollars that meat processors are spending to upgrade their operations through robotics and AI. She also will provide data on the importance of food safety to con...

In this third episode of a three-part series, Anne-Marie Roerink, principal at 210 Analytics and the author of the annual Power of Meat report for the last 19 years, describes how consumers feel about food safety and innovation in meat products they purchase and eat. She also will outline how product lines recover after recalls from the consumer perspective and the successful job that processors a...

As robotics, automation and artificial intelligence (AI) move into more prominent roles in meat processing and other industries, our guest this week is predicting that using virtual reality equipment — think headsets and hand controllers —  are likely to become required so manufacturers can keep up with the competition. Colin Usher is research scientist at the Georgia Tech Research Institute at Ge...

With new USDA rules on Salmonella in frozen and raw poultry taking effect, the fight to address microbial infection actually is also being waged on the hatchery level using research that ultimately could protect humans from some biological invasions. Our guest is Dr. Margie Lee, Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies at Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine. She also developed...

This episode will focus on a specific category of food products that includes meat that is marketed to consumers following strict Jewish dietary laws or those who appreciate the value of foods that carry the Kosher seal. Felipe Kleiman, founder and CEO of KLM Kosher, outlines the efforts meat processors (and other food companies) must make to offer Kosher-certified products and describes innovatio...

Several companies across several continents are blazing a trail to a future cultivated meat market for consumers. They have, invariably, run into slippery slopes and rock slides. One company that has run into fewer obstacles is Australia’s Vow. Adding a tablespoon of showmanship to a gallon of hard-core R&D, and remaining dedicated to not just novel technologies but novel food experiences, Vow...

With major meat processors making bold investments in high-tech upgrades, companies like Cargill Inc. are seeing benefits in terms of increased efficiency, higher levels of plant safety, improved yields on the production line and workers with new skills. In this episode of MeatingPod, Enrique Villars, Cargill North America’s Manufacturing Excellence Leader, outlines how the Minneapolis-based proce...

In this first episode of a three-part series, Anne-Marie Roerink, principal at 210 Analytics and the author of the annual Power of Meat report for the last 19 years, offers perspectives from the consumer point of view on protein purchases and consumption. This episode will focus on poultry, which posted measurable gains in the inflationary times compared with beef and pork. Roerink also will discu...

In this episode, Verde Farms CEO Brad Johnson outlines the challenges and processes aimed at maintaining innovations and safety standards for the company’s line of 100% grass-fed and organic beef products. The Mass.-based processor is focused on keeping the lines of communications open with its retail and restaurant customers in addition to conducting its own research on consumer trends. Verde Far...