Contamination by odourMeat is particularly vulnerable to foreign odours and substantial claims canresult. Health authorities are naturally concerned when this occurs buteven in cases where the authorities are not involved, remedial treatmentcan be costly. If the intensity of the odour or its penetration of the meatsurface is significant, the warehouse or cold store where the meat is storedmay reject it because of the risk of taint to other meat already in store.Modern cold stores usually have no facilities for carrying out remedialtreatment for small quantities and it can be difficult and expensive to carryout the treatment at other premises.

Soft conditionApart from complete failure of the refrigeration plant, this damage is usuallybrought about in the case of Con-Air system containers, by the incompleteclosure of the vents at the connection point, where the ships refrigerationhas been disconnected. Damage can comprise blood-stained andmisshapen carcasses and the distortion and staining of cartoned meat inthe area of the ambient airflow.

Chilled beefIt should be borne in mind that the shelf life of chilled beef is about 10weeks from the time of slaughter and that it may have been in store forsome time before shipment. Occasionally on arrival at destination, theamount of free blood in the vacuum pack is found to be far in excess ofnormal. Provided that there is no evidence of intra-muscular icing at thetime of discharge, any allegation that the transit temperatures weretoo low should be refuted. The cause could be that the meat has been keptbelow its freezing point (-2C) before shipment, in an effort to keep it ascool as possible and prolong its shelf life.

Vacuum packed chilled meatDuring the past few years a number of claims have been raised byreceivers of chilled vacuum packed meat of high quality, primarily innorthern european ports. They have complained that their meat hadsuffered a considerable depreciation as a result of the presence of icecrystals in the meat.

Carefully to CarrySEPTEMBER 2006

UK P&I CLUB

Meat and meat products incontainers

Carefully to CarryAdvisory Committee

This report was produced by the Carefullyto Carry Committee the UK P&I Clubsadvisory committee on cargo matters.The aim of the Carefully to CarryCommittee is to reduce claims throughcontemporaneous advice to the ClubsMembers through the most efficientmeans available.

The committee was established in 1961and has produced many articles oncargoes that cause claims and other cargorelated issues such as hold washing,cargo securing, and ventilation.

The quality of advice given hasestablished Carefully to Carry as a keysource of guidance for shipowners andships officers. In addition, the articleshave frequently been the source ofexpertise in negotiations over thesettlement of claims and have also beenrelied on in court hearings.

In 2002 all articles were revised andpublished in book form as well as on disk.All articles are also available to Memberson the Club website. Visit the Carefully toCarry section in the Loss Prevention areaof the Club website www.ukpandi.com formore information, or contact the LossPrevention Department.

The carriershall properlyand carefullyload, handle,stow, carry,keep, care forand dischargethe goodscarried.

Hague Rules,Articles iii, Rule 2

The object of chilling is to provide meat whichresembles, as closely as possible, fresh meat and toretain the maximum degree or flavour, texture,appearance and nutritive value.

Vacuum packed meat is placed in a gas impermeablefilm of plastic bags at a temperature slightly above 0C.After the meat has been placed in the bags, the air isthen exhausted, the film tightly applied to the meatsurface and the temperature held at the appropriatelevel. The purpose of this process is to reduce bacterialgrowth and surface dehydration activity and henceprolong the storage life of chilled meat.

It should be noted that, because of the absence of air,chilled meat may show an abnormal discoloration andupon removal of the vacuum packing can give off acharacteristic and distinctive odour. On exposure to air,the colour of the meat reverts to normal and thedistinctive odour will disappear. Thus no immediateconclusions should be drawn as to the condition of themeat after removal of the packing.

The claims made by receivers are on the basis that,because of the presence of ice crystal, the meat canno longer be considered to be chilled (or fresh) meatbut it to considered as frozen chilled meat and theyclaim the difference in market value between chilledand frozen meat at the time of delivery at the port ofdischarge. It is quite possible that the difference inmarket value of these two types of meat may be asmuch as 20-25% bearing in mind the high quality of themeat involved.

The usual carrying temperature will range from -1.4Cto +2C but on short voyages the shippers mayrequire a carrying temperature as high as 0C. Theshippers should normally issue precise instruction onthis point and if they do not, ships masters shouldpress for such instruction to be given preferably inwriting. As the meat is vacuum packed, spiketemperatures cannot be taken upon loading but spotchecks on individual cartons, placing the thermometersbetween the layers, is recommended. Should there beany significant variation above or below therecommended carrying temperatures, it is suggestedthat a competent surveyor be called in.

For significant ice crystal formation to occur within themeat requires exposure to temperatures lower than-2C for prolonged periods because the meat containsvarious salts which lower its freezing point. Minorquantities of crystal near the surface within the meatshould not be taken to demonstrate a deterioration incondition or value. Crystals may also form on the meatat temperatures of 0C (the freezing point of water)and below. These crystals between the meat and thevacuum packing result form moisture migration and

are not indicative of any deterioration in the quality ofthe meat or any fault in the carriage. Any claimpresented on the basis of the presence of such crystalsshould be strongly resisted.

TranshipmentThere have been isolated instances where, as a resultof damage to the original container during transit,restowage of the cargo into a sound container hasbeen necessary. If such a transfer is carried out withoutveterinary control, in a country designated as adisease pollution area, such as the United Kingdom,the consignees in some countries may reject theconsignment on the grounds that there has been abreach of their own health regulations.

Insulated and integralrefrigeration containersThe shipment of chilled meat in Con-Air units has beenaccomplished with great success with carriagetemperatures as low as -1.4C. However, when similarcarriage temperatures are attempted in containersfitted with integral refrigeration equipment, problemswith intra-muscular icing have been encountered. It isrecommended that chilled meat shipments are notcarried in integral refrigeration containers withtemperature settings lower than -0.5C.

Regulations in the UnitedKingdomIt appears that in the United Kingdom, there are tworegulations which govern the importation of foodstuff,namely:

The Imported Food Regulations 1994, and 1997 withsubsequent amendments; and

The Products of Animal Origin (Import and Export)Regulations 1996 and subsequent amendments.

The first of these includes matters of importance toshippers and importers and in Schedule 4, sets outspecific requirements as to wrapping, packing andtransport of imported meat. For instance, thetemperature controls are: For carcasses and cuts (excluding rabbit, hare meat

and poultry meat) not higher than +7C (chilled) or-12C (frozen).

For offals (excluding rabbit offals, hare offals and

poultry offals) not higher than +3C.

For rabbit meat, hare meat, poultry meat, rabbitoffals, hare offals and poultry offals not higher than+4C.

UK P&I CLUBIS MANAGEDBY THOMASMILLER

For further information please contact:Loss Prevention Department, Thomas Miller P&I LtdTel: +44 20 7204 2307. Fax +44 20 7283 6517Email: lossprevention.ukclub@thomasmiller.com

For meat products temperature as specified on thelabel (when appropriate).

The foregoing temperature variations and constraintsare not as rigorous as those normally applied by forinstance, the North Atlantic Conference Lines andpossibly other shippers or carriers. The secondregulation mentioned above relates primarily toveterinary requirements and applies mainly to shippersand importers.

There are of course, a number of other regulationswhich touch upon the same aspects and theseinclude:

The Food Safety Act 1990; and

The Channel Tunnel (Amendment of AgricultureFisheries and Food Import Legislation) Order 1990

So far as the Committee is aware however, only theImported Food Regulations 1994, noted above,incorporate specific temperature requirements.