Meat Products and Byproducts for Value Addition

Abstract

Overall meat consumption is continuously rising in the USA, European Union, and developed world. Despite a shift toward higher poultry consumption, red meat still represents the largest proportion of the meat consumed in the USA (58 %). Twenty two percent of the meat consumed in the USA is processed. Meat intake varies widely throughout the world. In the USA and other developed countries, meat composes a significant portion of the normal diet contributing more than 15 % of the daily energy intake, 40 % of the daily protein intake, and 20 % of the daily fat intake (PMC 2012).

India is an agrarian country where more than 65 % of the population live in 5.8 lacs villages, wherein about 73 % people have their own livestock. This livestock rearing constitutes an integrated and important segment of rural economy, accounting to 14–40 % of the total farm household income. In general, important meat producing species are largely those animals which consume food of plant origin. The flesh of carnivorous animals is rarely used as human food. In India, goat, sheep, pig, buffalo, and cattle constitute nearly 75 % of the total meat production. Meats of these species are often referred to as red meat, whereas poultry meat is usually referred as white. Pork is intermediate in color. Our livestock population exceeds 500 million. During 2001, nearly 4,800,000 MT of meat was produced from the slaughter of nearly 107.64 million animals and 413.4 million chickens. In spite of large livestock resources, India produces only 2 % of total world meat production. The export of meat and meat products is very meager, i.e., 1.41 % of the total world meat trade. Frozen meat accounts for 65–75 % of the total meat export. At present, access to markets in developed countries does not exist because of animal health issues.