Meat&Poultry - December 2011 - 67

The cooler, which features a walkingbeam system, tracks and holds up to 8,000 carcasses.

vesting and fab floors, giving supervisors and customers a bird’s-eye view of the operations. Size mattered when planning the floors. The new harvesting floor was more than twice the size of what was needed at the time. “We designed in extra room for future food-safety equipment and systems,” Davis explains. “When we opened the new harvest floor, you could literally play soccer on it.” Eleven years later, 30 percent of that extra space now contains foodsafety interventions such as sprays, vacuums and steam equipment and there is still plenty of room to modify the floor as necessary, Davis says. GOP also provided extra space when designing and building its fab floor. The company intends to stay ahead of fabrication production demands. “We designed this plant so it could facilitate changes in the industry without compromising production and food safety,” Davis says. “Putting in a major piece of equipment in an existing plant requires a major redesign. At the plant we closed in 1999, it was impossible to retrofit any more.”

Used in a multiple-hurdle configuration, they are extremely effective, both men say. Maintaining worker safety is equally important. For example, after stunning and bleeding, cutters making cuts on elevated platforms are attached to lanyards to prevent falls. And line workers perform fewer cuts, which enhances the cuts and value of the animal while helping prevent carpal

tunnel syndrome. Yet maintaining food safety is always front and center. After each cut, knives are sanitized. A hot-water wash and lactic-acid wash were installed immediately after hide removal. “After removing the liver and some of the offals, steam units were also installed. Henry wanted to double-up on these food-safety processes,” Fili says. After automatic hide removal, each carcass is washed in hot water and an organic acid rinse. “We installed two wash spots instead of one,” Fili says. The cattle-processing floor contains seven individual compartments featuring stainless-steel walls extending from floor to ceiling. Air is controlled to ensure the lowest air pressure is where live cattle enter the plant and the highest

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Maximizing food safety
GOP’s harvesting plant incorporates the latest and best technologies available to control pathogens. It employs a multi-hurdle concept with 12 separate processes, each of which is a validated pathogen intervention procedure. Intervention steps include controlled atmosphere, steam vacuums, hot water and acid rinse cabinets and steampasteurization cabinets, among others.

IDEAS THAT FEED THE WORLD
Automated Food Systems, Inc.
1000 East Lofland Drive, Waxahachie, Texas 75165 USA Phone: (469) 517-0470 Fax: (469) 517-0476 www.afstexas.com email: sales@afstexas.com

KABOBS! BROCHETTES! PRODUCED ON AFSI'S KW-2001 AT 4,000 PIECES PER HOUR!
PLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSITE OR CONTACT US FOR MORE DETAILS

www.MeatPoultry.com • December 2011 • Meat&Poultry • 67

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Meat&Poultry - December 2011

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