Organic Meat Production and Processing
Institute of Food Technologists Series

Organic Meat Production and Processing describes the challenges of production, processing and food safety of organic meat. The editors and international collection of authors explore the trends in organic meats and how the meat industry is impacted. Commencing with chapters on the economics, market and regulatory aspects of organic meats, coverage then extends to management issues for organically raised and processed meat animals. Processing, sensory and human health aspects are covered in detail, as are the incidences of foodborne pathogens in organic beef, swine, poultry and other organic meat species. The book concludes by describing pre-harvest control measures for assuring the safety of organic meats.

Organic Meat Production and Processing serves as a unique resource for fully understanding the current and potential issues associated with organic meats.

List of Contributors xv

1 Historical and Current Perspectives on Organic Meat Production 1
Ellen J. Van Loo, Steven C. Ricke, Corliss A. O’Bryan, and Michael G. Johnson

1.1 What is organic – definition 1

1.2 History and development of the modern organic food industry 1

1.3 Organic food labels 3

1.4 Organic meat and objectives of this book 8

Acknowledgment 8

References 8

SECTION I: ECONOMICS, MARKET, AND REGULATORY ISSUES 11

2 Organic Meat Operations in the United States 13
Corliss A. O’Bryan, Ellen J. Van Loo, Steven C. Ricke, and Philip G. Crandall

2.1 Introduction 13

2.2 The market for organic meat in the United States 14

2.3 Production and supply of organic meat in the United States 14

2.4 Future of the US organic meat industry 20

References 20

3 Regulatory Issues in Domestically Raised and Imported Organic Meats in the United States 23
Harrison M. Pittman, Kerri C. Boling, and Shannon J. Mirus

3.1 Introduction 23

3.2 The national organic program 24

3.3 Future directions and conclusions 50

References 51

4 Organic Meat Production in Europe: Market and Regulation 53
Simona Naspetti and Raffaele Zanoli

4.1 Introduction 53

4.2 The regulatory framework 53

4.3 Organic animal production: salient features of the new EU regulation 55

4.4 Characteristics of the organic meat industry 56

4.5 Consumer issues 61

4.6 Conclusions 65

References 66

5 Organic Meat Marketing 67
Ellen J. Van Loo, Vincenzina Caputo, Rodolfo M. Nayga, Jr., Maurizio Canavari, and Steven C. Ricke

5.1 Introduction 67

5.2 Consumers’ purchasing drivers and deterrents 67

5.3 Economics and price premium 75

5.4 An analysis across organic buyer types and sociodemographic dimensions 78

5.5 Conclusions 80

Acknowledgment 81

References 81

SECTION II: MANAGEMENT ISSUES FOR ORGANICALLY RAISED AND PROCESSED MEAT ANIMALS 87

6 Health and Welfare of Organic Livestock and Its Challenges 89
Albert Sundrum

6.1 Introduction 89

6.2 Characteristics of organic livestock farming 90

6.3 Implications of living conditions on animal health and welfare 91

6.4 Heterogeneity of living conditions between organic farms 96

6.5 Status of animal health and welfare in organic farming 97

6.6 Different perspectives 98

6.7 Inconsistencies and cognitive dissonances 102

6.8 Challenges 105

6.9 New approach 107

References 108

7 Environmental Impacts and Life Cycle Analysis of Organic Meat Production and Processing 113
Cesare Castellini, Antonio Boggia, Luisa Paolotti, Greg J. Thoma, and Dae-soo Kim

7.1 Organic meat and environmental impacts 113

7.2 The life cycle assessment method 114

7.3 Case study–environmental impact evaluation of poultry production systems, by means of LCA: comparison among conventional, organic, and organic-plus 119

7.4 Case study–national scan-level carbon footprint for US swine production 128

7.5 Conclusions 134

References 134

8 Genetics of Poultry Meat Production in Organic Systems 137
Poul Sørensen

8.1 Introduction 137

8.2 The growth 139

8.3 Adaptation to outdoor facilities 140

8.4 Concentration and/or quality of nutrients fed to the organically grown chicken 141

8.5 The parent stock should be organically kept – perhaps? 142

8.6 Where to buy genetic material, or is it necessary to breed for organically grown chickens? 142

8.7 Dual purpose or specialised breeds 143

8.8 Conclusion 143

References 144

9 Organic Meat By-Products for Affiliated Food Industries 147
Claudia S. Dunkley, Dave Carter, and Kingsley Dunkley

9.1 Introduction 147

9.2 Meat by-products 148

9.3 Marketing organic by-products 150

9.4 Current regulations regarding the pet-food industry 151

9.5 Organic product and by-product use in the pet-food industry 152

9.6 Where do we go from here? 154

9.7 Other uses of organic by-products 154

9.8 Conclusions 155

References 155

10 Organic Animal Nutrition and Feed Supplementations 157
Vesela I. Chalova and Steven C. Ricke

10.1 Introduction 157

10.2 Organic animal nutrition: general considerations 158

10.3 Proteins 160

10.4 Mineral and vitamin supplementations 167

10.5 Conclusions and perspectives 169

Acknowledgment 169

References 169

11 Production of Forage Crops Suitable for Feeding Organically Raised Meat Animals 177
Ivan Manolov and Christina Yancheva

11.1 Introduction 177

11.2 Crop rotations 178

11.3 Intercropping 180

11.4 Green manure and cover crops 180

11.5 Undersowing 181

11.6 Weed management 182

11.7 Soil fertility 183

11.8 Cereal crops 185

11.9 Fodder crops 186

11.10 Pastures 190

11.11 Conclusion 192

References 192

SECTION III: PROCESSING, SENSORY, AND HUMAN HEALTH ASPECTS OF ORGANIC MEATS 199

12 Slaughter Options for Organic Meat Producers in the United States 201
Corliss A. O’Bryan, Kristen E. Gibson, Philip G. Crandall, and Steven C. Ricke

12.1 Introduction 201

12.2 Fixed facilities 201

12.3 Mobile slaughter units 203

12.4 On-farm poultry processing 205

12.5 Waste management 206

12.6 Conclusions 208

Acknowledgment 208

References 208

List of resources 208

13 Alternatives to Traditional Antimicrobials for Organically Processed Meat and Poultry 211
T. Matthew Taylor, Rolf Joerger, Enrique Palou, Aurelio López-Malo, Rául Avila-Sosa, and Thelma Calix-Lara

13.1 Introduction 211

13.2 Weak organic acids and associated salts 214

13.3 Chlorine and the oxidizing antimicrobials 221

13.4 Antimicrobial polypeptides and biopreservation 225

13.5 Concluding remarks 229

References 230

14 Nutritional Value of Organic Meat and Potential Human Health Response 239
Ewa Rembiałkowska and Maciej Badowski

14.1 Introduction 239

14.2 Beef 242

14.3 Mutton and lamb 243

14.4 Pork 244

14.5 Poultry 247

14.6 Rabbit meat 247

14.7 Summary 249

References 252

15 Sensory Assessment of Organic Meats 257
Lydia J. Rice and Jean-François Meullenet

15.1 Introduction 257

15.2 Types of sensory testing 258

15.3 Sensory research on organic meat 263

15.4 Conclusions 269

References 270

Appendix A Minimum number of assessment in a triangle test 273

Appendix B Critical number of correct response in a triangle test (entries are xa,n) 274

16 Chemical Residues in Organic Meats Compared to Conventional Meats 275
Sergio Ghidini, Emanuela Zanardi, Mauro Conter, and Adriana Ianieri

16.1 Introduction 275

16.2 Inorganic residues and contaminants 276

16.3 Organic residues and contaminants 279

16.4 Pesticides 280

16.5 Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) 280

16.6 Veterinary drugs 281

16.7 Conclusions 282

References 283

SECTION IV: THE CURRENT FOOD SAFETY STATUS OF ORGANIC MEATS 285

17 Prevalence of Food-Borne Pathogens in Organic Beef 287
Megan E. Jacob, J. Trent Fox, and T. G. Nagaraja

17.1 Introduction 287

17.2 E. coli O157 and non-O157 STEC 290

17.3 Salmonella 292

17.4 Campylobacter 293

17.5 Listeria monocytogenes 294

17.6 Conclusions 294

References 296

18 Incidence of Food-Borne Pathogens in Organic Swine 301
Marcos H. Rostagno and Paul D. Ebner

18.1 Introduction 301

18.2 Incidence of bacterial food-borne pathogens 303

18.3 Antimicrobial resistance in conventional versus organic pork production 305

18.4 Incidence of parasites 308

18.5 Conclusions 309

References 310

19 Food-borne Pathogen Occurrence in Organically and Naturally Raised Poultry 315
Ellen J. Van Loo, Sherry N. Melendez, Irene B. Hanning, and Steven C. Ricke

19.1 Introduction 315

19.2 Broiler production in the United States 316

19.3 Prevalence of food-borne pathogens in pasture and organically raised poultry 318

19.4 Antibiotic resistance 321

19.5 Conclusions 324

Acknowledgment 324

References 324

SECTION V: PREHARVEST CONTROL MEASURES FOR ASSURING THE SAFETY OF ORGANIC MEATS 329

20 Probiotics as Pathogen Control Agents for Organic Meat Production 331
Gregory R. Siragusa and Steven C. Ricke

20.1 Introduction 331

20.2 Antibiotics in food animal production 332

20.3 Development of probiotics 333

20.4 Probiotics and the GI tract 334

20.5 Probiotics and mechanisms of protection 336

20.6 Company-specific inoculant 340

20.7 Conclusions 341

Acknowledgment 342

References 343

21 Gut Health and Organic Acids, Antimicrobial Peptides, and Botanicals as Natural Feed Additives 351
Jacqueline Jacob and Anthony Pescatore

21.1 Introduction 351

21.2 Gut health and microbial population 353

21.3 Organic acids 355

21.4 Antimicrobial peptides 359

21.5 Phytogenic compounds/botanicals 362

21.6 Conclusions 369

References 370

22 Prebiotics 379
Jacqueline Jacob and Anthony Pescatore

22.1 Introduction 379

22.2 Fructo-oligosaccharides 383

22.3 Mannanoligosaccharides (MOS) 384

22.4 Other oligosaccharides 389

22.5 Inulin 390

22.6 Combinations of feed additives 392

22.7 Conclusions 399

References 399

23 Bacteriophages for Potential Food Safety Applications in Organic Meat Production 407
Steven C. Ricke, Paul Hererra, and Debabrata Biswas

23.1 Introduction 407

23.2 Bacteriophage biology 408

23.3 Postharvest application of bacteriophage in meat processing 409

23.4 Preharvest phage therapy 411

23.5 Bacteriophage and animal host response 412

23.6 Overcoming barriers to bacteriophage GI tract therapy 414

23.7 Optimizing phage sources for therapeutic application 417

23.8 Conclusions 418

Acknowledgment 419

References 419

24 The Future of Organic Meats 425
Ellen J. Van Loo, Steven C. Ricke, Corliss A. O’Bryan, and Michael G. Johnson

24.1 Synopsis of the different sections 425

24.2 Future of the organic meat industry 427

Acknowledgment 429

References 429

Index 431

Steven C. Ricke, Professor and Wray Endowed Chair in Food Safety and Director of the Center for Food Safety, Food Science Department, Division of Agriculture, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, USA

Ellen J. Van Loo, Doctoral Researcher, Department of Agricultural Economics, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium

Michael G. Johnson, Emeritus Professor, Food Microbiology & Safety, Food Science Department, Division of Agriculture, University of Arkansas

Corliss A. O’Bryan, Post Doctoral Research Associate, Food Science Department, Division of Agriculture, University of Arkansas