Meat Testing Kits for Indian Armed Forces
24 May, 2007 (FIDSNS)
By Deepa Prakash: Correspondent - South India
Meat and meat products form an integral part of food for the armed forces. Meat on hoof was a part of food supplies before the advent of processed meat; cattle and sheep were carried along by the army during wartime and slaughtered in the camps for immediate consumption. This was a set back in terms of military logistics requiring the troops to move quickly and carry light weight nutritious food.
Pre-cooked processed and preserved meats are a part of the combat rations the world over. Ready to Eat (RTE) and dehydrated meat products form a part of the field scale rations. Deployments that warrant peace scale rations depend on fresh meat for consumption.
Meat is procured for the Armed Forces in a dressed and cleaned form the local vendors from or around area of deployment. The global norms describe edible meat to be from the slaughter of a live animal i.e. “Live Slaughter” – however sometimes the spurious elements in the supply chain include the risk to consume meat cut out of a deceased carcass from a dead animal i.e. “Cold Slaughter”. It is important to know if the meat is from a “live slaughter” or “cold slaughter” to ensure the hygiene and quality of the meat to ensure no harm to the consumer.
The Defence Food Research Laboratory (DFRL), Mysore, a part of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has developed quick and easy to use “Meat Testing Kits”. A chemical coated strip is dropped into the matter extracted from a piece of meat – Change of color in a few minutes indicates the meat is from a cold slaughtered animal.
Tests have also been developed to evaluate freshness of meat products. Fatty acids are one of the components of meat and rancidity is a major problem deteriorating the quality of a meat product. A test strip has been developed which rapidly detects quality of meat based on the level of free fatty acids formed in the product.
Meat is a rich medium for microbial growth. Microbial contamination causes food poisoning and sometimes even death. Checking microbial profile is conventionally done in a microbiology lab; apart from being a laborious process it is also time consuming. On the field scale the forces deployed have neither the luxury of time nor a laboratory – DFRL has developed a color test which immediately gives and idea of the freshness/extent of spoilage the meat has undergone. This in turn helps in acceptance/rejection of the meat product depending on the extent of spoilage/deterioration in microbial quality.
The test kits are portable and easy to use under field conditions even at extreme temperatures. These quick tests for quality are just a few of the many developed by DFRL, Mysore. This technology has been well accepted by the armed forces and is a part of the labs Transfer of Technology (TOT) to meat and food processing industries aswell as institutional catering services.
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