Carcass concern: What is return-to-service protocol on grading machines?

Following the revelation that automated meat grading machines were found to be inaccurate on eight occasions during Department of Agriculture inspections, there have been questions raised regarding the protocol on how those machines are returned to service.

According to Michael Creed, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, the machines are returned to service after ‘classification exercises’ on a minimum of 100 carcasses.

Responding to a parliamentary question from independent Roscommon-Galway TD Michael Fitzmaurice, the minister said that if, after those exercises, the machine is found to be “working within legal tolerance”, then it can be returned to service.

According to Minister Creed, machines are tested in unannounced inspections, where they are also subject to a 100-carcass examination by authorised classification officers. If a machine is found to be operating outside tolerance, it is removed from service and meat plants are instructed to return to manual grading.

The minister also added that food business operators (FBOs) were asked to check and record the accuracy of the weighing scales used for the purpose of weighing a carcass.

It was revealed by the minister at the beginning of this month that last year, 2018, eight machines were found to be inaccurate in meat plants across the country, adding to the 13 such incidents in 2017.

In 2018, the department conducted 548 unannounced on-the-spot inspections in 32 factories, according to Minister Creed.

Carcass trimming

At the time, the minister also noted that 19 fines were issued for non-compliance for carcass trimming, following on from the controversy at the end of last year.

According to Minister Creed, 28 fines had been issued for the same purpose in 2016, but none in 2017.