2016/05/04 by Dourmad, Jean-Yves, Nassy, Gilles, Salaun, Yannick +2
#Food losses #Meat #Pertes alimentaires #Porc #Pork #Viande
paper · doi:10.15454/1.4622710500090479e12
The reduction of food losses is a major issue in a context of limited resources and increasing world demand. This paper reports the mains results of a study on the food losses along the French pork production chain. Mortality during transport and seized material at the slaughterhouse is a first reason for losses. These losses represent about 1% of total animals' weight leaving the farm; they are transformed in "C2" animal by-products mainly used for energy production. The losses during the cutting of the carcass are estimated to 1.2% of initial carcass weight. They are transformed into "C3" animal byproducts suitable for animal feeding, especially for pet-food. It is estimated that 51% of total offal and blood, which represents 13% of animal's weight, are used as human food and 21% for pet-food, the remaining being transformed in "C3" non-differentiated animal products. In France, 75% of the pork is consumed after processing, with a very large diversity of products (more than 400). This is a major asset for the maximal valorization of all carcass cuts and offal, but it makes it very difficult to evaluate the possible losses during their processing.