ABSTRACT
The adoption of preservative packaging for raw meats has led to major changes in the processing and marketing of such products. As a result of the widespread adoption of vacuum packaging for primal cuts of red meats, trade in red meat carcasses has declined to trivial proportions in many developed countries, and the international trade in chilled raw meats has greatly increased, with a consequent decline in trading of frozen meats. The enhanced stability of vacuum-packaged products has facilitated consolidation of meat-packing facilities. Consequently, in many countries, abattoirs of intermediate size have been replaced by relatively few, large facilities, with small abattoirs providing services for niche markets. The use of preservative packaging with retail cuts has facilitated
the central preparation of retail-ready product, with progressive displacement of fresh meat retailing from traditional butchers’ shops to supermarkets.
