ABSTRACT
I. INTRODUCTION Although fresh meat is highly perishable, its packaging has, until relatively recently, been a matter of minor concern to meat traders, health officials, and the public. Unwrapped fresh or frozen carcasses have long been the currency of the wholesale meat trade. Small meat species such as rabbits and poultry are, in many parts of the world, still traded commercially in natural packaging, their own skins. This is also the primary packaging choice of most commercial and recreational hunters.
