Destructured meat : several risk factors identified

Production of "presliced-prepacked" superior quality cooked ham is booming. However, meat-curing operators are increasingly reporting a defect they call "destructured ham" that can only be detected after the hams have been boned. This defect leads to sections prone to fall apart after cooking, causing significant losses (holed or torn slices) during mechanical slicing. Based on slaughter runs collected in 1998-99 in five industrial slaughterhouses in Western France, the frequency of destructured meat was estimated at 17%