Case-ready meat

Case-ready meat, retail-ready meat, or pre-packaged meat refers to fresh meat that is processed and packaged at a central facility and delivered to the store ready to be put directly into the meat case.^[1]^[2]

Background

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Traditionally, most meat was shipped as primal cuts from the slaughterhouse to the butcher. Meat was then cut to commonly used cuts and packaged at the store or was custom cut for consumers.

Case-ready meat is cut and packaged at central regional facilities and sent to retail stores ready for placement in refrigerated display cases. Local butchering, cutting, trimming, and overwrapping the meat at retail stores is greatly reduced.

Advantages of the centralized master-packager preparation include: efficiency of centralized operations, tight quality control, close control of sanitization, specialized packaging, etc.^[3]

Packaging

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Centralized cutting and processing of meats has the potential of reducing the shelf life of the cuts. Specialized packaging is needed to regain and even extend that shelf life.

Packaging includes tray,^[4] absorbent pad (meat diaper), specialty plastic films,^[5] etc. Oxygen scavengers and modified atmosphere packaging are used to keep the products visually appealing and consumer safe.^[6] ^[7]

Distribution

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Control of temperature during the distribution cold chain is critical to meat quality and safety.

References

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^ Pelletier, Brian (30 April 2005). "Case-ready meat is hitting its stride". Multipacking/shrink bundling/banding. Packaging World. PMMI Media Group. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
^ Petrak, Lynn (29 January 2016). "Case ready and steady". Food Business News. Sosland Publishing. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
^ Jeyamkondan, S.; Jayas, D. S.; Holley, R. A. (June 2000). "Review of Centralized Packaging Systems for Distribution of Retail-Ready Meat". Journal of Food Protection. 63 (6). International Association for Food Protection: 796–804. doi:10.4315/0362-028X-63.6.796. PMID 10852575. MS 99-369 – via Elsevier ScienceDirect.
^ US 7857160, Owensby, Joseph E., "Optimized tray for case-ready meat", published 2010-12-28, assigned to Sealed Air Corp.
^ US 2006014002, Moulton, Jeffrey; Porter, Simon & Ting, Yuan-Ping, "High barrier antifog laminate for case ready meat packaging", published 2006-01-19 (now abandoned)
^ Skandamis, Panagiotis N; Nychas, George-John E (15 November 2002). "Preservation of fresh meat with active and modified atmosphere packaging conditions". International Journal of Food Microbiology. 79 (1–2). Elsevier Science B.V.: 35–45. doi:10.1016/s0168-1605(02)00177-0. ISSN 0168-1605. PMID 12382683.
^ US 5667827, Breen, Dennis J. & Wilson, Lawrence, "Process of packaging fresh meat", published 1997-09-16, assigned to Transhumance

Robertson, G. L. (2013). Food Packaging: Principles & Practice. CRC Press. ISBN 978-1-4398-6241-4
Yam, K. L., Encyclopedia of Packaging Technology, John Wiley & Sons, 2009, ISBN 978-0-470-08704-6
Harwell, Edward M., Packaging and Displaying Meats in Self-Service Meat Markets, United States Department of Agriculture. June 1953

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v t e Packaging
General topics	Active packaging Child-resistant packaging Contract packager Edible packaging Modified atmosphere/modified humidity packaging Overpackaging Package delivery Package pilferage Package testing Package theft Packaging engineering Resealable packaging Reusable packaging Reuse of bottles Shelf life Shelf-ready packaging Shelf-stable Sustainable packaging Tamper-evident Tamper resistance Wrap rage
Product packages	Alternative wine closure Ammunition box Banana box Beer bottle Box wine Case-ready meat Coffee bag Cosmetic packaging Currency packaging Disposable food packaging Drink can Egg carton Evidence packaging Field ration Flour sack Foam food container Food packaging Fuel container Gas cylinder Glass milk bottle Growler Juicebox Low plastic water bottle Luxury packaging Milk bag Optical disc packaging Oyster pail Popcorn bag Pharmaceutical packaging Plastic milk container Purdue Improved Crop Storage bags Sand bag Seasonal packaging Self-heating food packaging Screw cap (wine) Single-serve coffee container Spray paint Toothpaste pump dispenser Unit dose Water bottle Wine bottle
Containers	Aerosol spray dispenser Aluminium bottle Aluminum can Ampoule Antistatic bag Bag-in-box Bag Barrel Biodegradable bag Blister pack Boil-in-bag Bottle Box Bulk box Cage Case Carboy Carton Chub Clamshell Corrugated box design Crate Disposable cup Drum Endcap Envelope Euro container Flexible intermediate bulk container Flexible tank Folding carton Glass bottle Gunny sack Inhaler Insulated shipping container Intermediate bulk container Jar Jerrycan Jug Keg Mesh bag Multilayered packaging Multi-pack Packet (container) Padded envelope Pail Paper bag Paper sack Plastic bag Plastic bottle Retort pouch Salvage drum Sachet Water sachet Security bag Shipping container Shipping tube Skin pack Spray bottle Squround Stand-up pouch Steel and tin cans Tetra Brik Thermal bag Tub (container) Tube Unit load Vial Wooden box
Materials and components	Adhesive Aluminium foil Bail handle Bioplastic Biodegradable plastic BoPET Bubble wrap Bung Cellophane Closure Coated paper Coating Coextrusion Container glass Corrugated fiberboard Corrugated plastic Cushioning Desiccant Double seam Flip-top Foam peanut Gel pack Hot-melt adhesive Humidity indicator card Kraft paper Label Lid Linear low-density polyethylene Liquid packaging board Living hinge Low-density polyethylene Meat absorbent pad Metallised film Modified atmosphere Molded pulp Nonwoven fabric Overwrap Oxygen scavenger Package handle Packaging gas Pallet Paper Paper pallet Paperboard Plastic-coated paper Plastic film Plastic pallet Plastic wrap Polyester Polyethylene Polypropylene Pressure-sensitive tape Pump dispenser Screw cap Screw cap (wine) Security printing Security tape Shock detector Shock and vibration data logger Shrink wrap Slip sheet Staple (fastener) Strapping Stretch wrap Susceptor Tamper-evident band Tear tape Temperature data logger Time temperature indicator Tinplate Velostat
Processes	Aseptic processing Authentication Automatic identification and data capture Blow fill seal Blow molding Calendering Canning Coating Containerization Converting Corona treatment Curtain coating Die cutting Die forming (plastics) Electronic article surveillance Extrusion Extrusion coating Flame treatment Glass production Graphic design Hazard analysis and critical control points Hermetic seal Induction sealing Injection moulding Lamination Laser cutting Molding Package tracking Papermaking Plastic extrusion Plastic welding Printing Product development Production control Quality assurance Radio-frequency identification Roll slitting Shearing (manufacturing) Thermoforming Track and trace Ultrasonic welding Vacuum forming Vacuum packaging Verification and validation
Machinery	Barcode printer Barcode reader Bottling line Calender Can seamer Cap torque tester Cartoning machine Case sealer Check weigher Conveyor system Drum pump Extended core stretch wrapper Filler Heat gun Heat sealer Industrial robot Injection molding machine Label printer applicator Lineshaft roller conveyor Logistics automation Material-handling equipment Mechanical brake stretch wrapper Multihead weigher Orbital stretch wrapper Packaging machinery Pallet inverter Palletizer Rotary wheel blow molding systems Seed-counting machine Shrink tunnel Staple gun Tape dispenser Turntable stretch wrapper Vertical form fill sealing machine
Environment, post-use	Biodegradation Can collecting Closed-loop box reuse Environmental engineering Glass recycling Industrial ecology Life-cycle assessment Litter Packaging waste Paper recycling PET bottle recycling Plastic recycling Recycling Reusable packaging Reverse logistics Source reduction Sustainable packaging Waste management
Category: Packaging

Background

Packaging

Distribution

See also

References

Further reading