Dissection trial for the assessment of the reference lean meat percentage of the pig carcasses within the EU-funded Twinning Project “Support the establishment of a carcass classification system in line with the EU Common Agricultural Policy” was held from the 20th February to the 3rd March. Five scientists and experts from the Institute of Agri-food Research and Technology (IRTA) from Spain have collaborated with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management of Serbia, with the aim of carrying out a series of activities related to carcass classification. IRTA is a research institute owned by the Government of Catalonia attached to the Department of Climate Action, Food and Rural Agenda. IRTA’s mission is to contribute to modernising, improving, boosting competitiveness, and fostering sustainable development in the sectors of agriculture, food, agroforestry, aquaculture, and fishing, as well as in all areas of activity directly or indirectly related to the supply of healthy, high-quality foodstuffs to end consumers, while also contributing to food safety and safe processing of foodstuffs and in general enhancing the health and well-being of the population.
The European Union (EU) legislation requires at least 10 pig half carcasses to be dissected, and 120 half carcasses to be scanned. During the trial performed in Serbia, 20 pig half carcasses have been totally dissected by trained butchers and 130 half carcasses have been scanned, so the requirements of the EU legislations have been fulfilled.
The team of experts has used mobile Computer Tomography (CT) for the scanning, available to move to different countries to carry out scanning trials. The CT is installed in a trailer. CT is a technology that allows to obtain images of the inside of bodies and can therefore be applied to live animals, carcasses or pieces of meat, as well as other food products. The use of the scanner allows saving time and money, and improves the accuracy of the results, because, among other things, it uses real measurements instead of estimates. The IRTA trailer arrived to Serbia and was installed in the slaughter plant, until the end of the trial and returned to Spain after the trial finished. It provided the three-dimensional reconstruction of the animal. The tool allowed the virtual cutting to predict the composition of fat and muscle for each of the cuts or parts, assessing the quality of carcasses and therefore optimizing this process for the industry. The EU has approved the use of computer tomography as a reference system for calibrating carcasses classification equipment.
With this trial, the experts will obtain the necessary data in order to calibrate and authorise the grading methods for pig carcasses.
The Dissection trial was supported by Vinca Institute of Nuclear Sciences, Agricultural University of Novi Sad, and meat industries: Djurdjevic, Nedeljkovic and Agropapuk.