Application of New Technologies in Meat Processing Industry in the Function of Improvement of Total Quality of Products and Consumer Protection

Just as it does in the world, the meat processing industry in Bosnia and Herzegovina also represents one of the main branches of the food-processing sector. In the last twenty years, there have been great developments and applications of technological solutions, which accompany this branch of industry. Today, it is unimaginable that any production plant which deals with meat processing does so without the help of tens of highly-sophisticated machines (meat crusher, automatic mixers and fillers, micro and macrocutters, pickl-injectors, tumblers-massagers, smoking chambers, vacuum packing machines, etc.). Besides the fact that these machines, in their basic intent, have in a significant deal replaced the human factor, their application has other implications as well. Namely, the application of the newest technological accomplishments in the meat industry not only has it in many ways influenced the expansion of the palette of products, but also the overall quality of the products as well. On the other hand, the technology of lasting dry-cured meat products has even in the most advanced meat processing plants kept the basic contours of traditional production, in which the human work is predominantly present (meat cutting, ropes tying, salting/brining, drying, smoking, etc.). With the intent to try and find modalities of application some of the technological solutions in this production segment, the use of specific machines for some technological phases was done experimentally. More precisely, the phase of salting and/or brining, which is traditionally done by hand, was attempted in this study to be replaced by injecting machines (pickl-injectors). In addition, the modification of the technological process of production was performed in the segment of salting/brining. Namely, in this part of the production process the use of tumbler-massagers was implemented, for the purposes of the experiment. The aim of the application of these two contemporary machines was to establish the justification of their use from a technological standpoint. Besides that, their influence on the end quality of the product was the most important element of the justification of their use.