Modern Meat Research Articles

Mad cowmen, foreign investors and the Mexican Revolution

‘Today in Merrie England,’ reported the Mexican Herald on 7 October 1909, gracing ‘the ends of traditional English boards is roasted beef from the plains of Mexico’. The man who sent that first steamship of Mexican meat to England, John Wesley de Kay, president of the Mexican National Packing Company, hoped that his refrigerated beef exports would soon rival those of Argentina and the United States.1 Washington National Record Center (hereafter WNRC), U.S/Mexican Claims Commission, RG 76, entry 125, agency 4850, John W. de Kay Memorial, 3 June 1927, see especially pp. 13-25. This document must be read with caution. Having introduced to Mexico the modern meat packing methods pioneered in Chicago, he exemplified the progress and profits that seemed possible through foreign investment during the dictatorship of Porfirio Diaz (1876–1911). But de Kay's dream of becoming the next Gustavus Swift or Philip Armour perished with the Mexican Revolution of 1910, when mad cowmen—both disgruntled livestock merchants and militant packing plant workers—toppled his nascent meat trust. By 1914, he found himself in England, acting as an agent of the Mexican government, in a desperate attempt to salvage the virtually bankrupt company. The rise and fall of de Kay's meat packing empire offers both an intriguing case study in the history of Mexican industrial development and valuable lessons for modern investors seeking to profit from the North American Free Trade Agreement.2 On Porfirian industrialisation, see Stephen H. Haber, Industry and Underdevelopment: The Industrialization of Mexico, 1890-1940, Stanford, Stanford University Press, 1989. For the magnitude of United States investment, see John Mason Hart, Revolutionary Mexico: The Coming and Process of the Mexican Revolution, Berkeley, University of California Press, 1987. The Porfirian culture of progress is described by William H. Beezley, Judas at the Jockey Club and Other Essays on Porfirian Mexico, Lincoln, University of Nebraska Press, 1987, and Tony Morgan, ‘Proletarians, Politicos, and Patriarchs: The Use and Abuse of Cultural Customs in the Early Industrialization of Mexico City, 1880-1910’, in William H. Beezley, Cheryl English Martin, and William E. French (eds), Rituals of Rule, Rituals of Resistance: Public Celebrations and Popular Culture in Mexico, Wilmington, SR Books, 1994, pp. 151-71.

Postmortem Meat Inspection Programs; Separating Science and Tradition

Although a traditional approach to postmortem meat inspection dominates current programs, scientific evidence increasingly suggests that some practices are inappropriately focused. Allocation of inspection resources in modern meat production and processing systems should reflect a distribution according to risk, rather than a distribution according to the classical rules of meat inspection.Postmortem inspection procedures are not usually differentiated according to the class of livestock presented for slaughter, and they may be inappropriate to the spectrum and prevalence of diseases and defects present in a particular geographical region. A risk assessment model can provide the methodology for scientific evaluation of different postmortem inspection procedures, and allow the recognition of equivalent rather than replicated programs by international trading partners.The threat to human (and animal) health posed by various grossly evident diseases detectable by routine meat inspection procedures has been overemphasized relative to the threat posed by inadvertent microbiological contamination of the carcass and offals. The Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point approach (HACCP) identifies and ranks microbiological and other hazards that can arise at each operational step in a food processing system and is a scientifically based system for process control. It has yet to be introduced as a formal method for regulatory control of slaughter and dressing. The networking of slaughterhouse information back to the farm enhances the preventative approach of HACCP.

Agricultural ethics in rural education

Agricultural ethics is a field of philosophy emphasizing ethical issues associated with food and fiber production, processing, distribution, and consumption. Farming and ranching have historically been viewed as morally praiseworthy activities, and rural citizens have been promoted as models of morality. Now, career as farmers or as representatives of agribusiness firms will inevitably involve practices that are currently and foreseeably embroiled in controversy. Norms and values are and will be a substantial component of such controversies. As such, familiarity with agricultural ethics may be a substantial asset for residents of rural areas who contemplate such careers. What is more, the adage If you eat you are involved in agriculture, is particularly apt where agricultural ethics is concerned. All citizens depend upon secure agricultural production, and all affect the practice of agriculture through their consumer decisions and through political action. There is, therefore, good reason for all students to be cognizant of issues in agricultural ethics. Rural America has come to be perceived as a locus for ethically and politically contentious activities following the publication of books criticizing agriculture. Rachel Carson's Silent Spring was published in 1964. It was arguably the first in a series of books that raised questions about methods of agricultural production that were being adopted in the industrialized world. The succession of titles in this list includes E. F Schumacher's Small Is Beautiful (1973), Frances Moore Lappe's Diet for a Small Planet (1971), Wendell Berry's The Unsettling of America (1977), Wes Jackson's New Roots for Agriculture (1980), Orville Schell's Modern Meat

Book Reviews

Book Reviewed in this Article:Speiseeis. By Fritz Timm.Meade‐Chen Cane Sugar Handbook.Immunoassays in Food Analysis. Ed. by B. A. Morris and M. N. Clifford.Microbiology of Frozen Foods. Ed. by R. K. Robinson.Microbiology of Fermented Foods, 2 volumes. Ed. by B. J. B. Wood.Health or Hoax? The Truth about Health Foods and Diets. By Arnold E. Bender.Spray Drying Handbook. 4th edn. Ed. by K. Masters.Food Analysis: Principles and Techniques. Vol. 3. Biological Techniques. Ed. by Dieter W. Gruenwedel and John R. Whitaker.Basic Science for Food Studies. Ed. by V.L. Brownsell, C. J. Griffith and Eleri Jones.Sensory Evaluation Practices. By Herbert Stone and Joel L. Sidel.Trends in Modern Meat Technology. Ed. by B. Krol, P.S. van Roon and J.H. Houben.Functional Properties of Food Components. Ed. by Yeshajahu Pomeranz.Food Allergy. Ed. by Patricia Scowen, Gisela Medhurst and Jill Leslie.Toxigenic Fungi ‐ Their Toxins and Health Hazard. Ed. by H. Kurata and Y Ueno.

Principles and Practices of Modern Meat Technology

Technological advances offer considerable potential for the meat industry, and many of these advances may directly influence the microbiological characteristics of meat and meat products. Current and potential industry practices are summarized in light of their impact on not only the microbiological and sensory qualitites of meat and meat products, but also processing efficiencies. Microbiological implications of various technologies are emphasized in an effort to indicate some criticial control points that should be understood if the industry is to realize the full potential of those technologies.

Meat Emulsions

AbstractThe manufacture of emulsion based meat products plays an important part in modern meat distribution. In the United States, the current annual production of such products approaches 3 × 109 pounds, which gives some idea of their relative importance in the economics of our food industry. Although meat emulsions have been prepared by practical men for innumerable years, the chemical and physical principles involved have only become objects of systematic investigation in recent years. This paper will review some of the more important principles revealed by recent investigations and touch on their practical application to sausage making practice.

The Modern Abattoir and Meat Inspection, by WM. TWEED, F.R.C.V.S., D.V.S.M. (Fellow), Divisional Veterinary Inspector, Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries

The Modern Abattoir and Meat Inspection, by WM. TWEED, F.R.C.V.S., D.V.S.M. (Fellow), Divisional Veterinary Inspector, Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries

The Basis of Modern Meat Inspection, by N. M. CLAYTON, M.R.C.V.S., Veterinary Officer, Birkenhead

The Basis of Modern Meat Inspection, by N. M. CLAYTON, M.R.C.V.S., Veterinary Officer, Birkenhead

The chemist in the modern meat packing house

Journal of the Society of Chemical IndustryVolume 27, Issue 11 p. 534-534 Article The chemist in the modern meat packing house First published: 15 June 1908 https://doi.org/10.1002/jctb.5000271103AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume27, Issue1115 June 1908Pages 534-534 RelatedInformation