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In the dynamic landscape of the meat industry, staying ahead requires not just precision in production but also a commitment to ensuring the highest standards of food safety and quality. As consumer expectations and regulatory standards continue to evolve, the necessity for swift and accurate testing results has become a focal point for food companies around the world.
In this enlightening interview, we delve into the experiences and insights of Gerry McNally, Head of Food Safety & Quality at Dawn Meats Carroll’s Cross facility in Waterford, Ireland. With a rich background in the meat industry spanning over two decades, Gerry provides a firsthand overview of the company's activities, the intricacies involved in obtaining critical testing results, and the pivotal decision to explore and integrate PerkinElmer's advanced instruments for food analysis.
Dawn Meats: My name is Gerry McNally, I am Head of Food Safety & Quality at the Dawn Meats Carroll’s Cross facility in Waterford, Ireland. I have been with Dawn Meats for 7 years, but prior to that, I spent almost 15 years working for another division within the Dawn Meats organization. You could say that the meat industry has been a major part of my working life, having first started out in my father’s butchers shop when I was only a kid.
Dawn Meats: At Dawn Meats Carroll’s Cross, we specialize in producing frozen beef patties for McDonald's in Ireland, the UK, and France. Additionally, we supply frozen beef and lamb patties to various retail and food service companies across Ireland, the UK, and Europe.
In addition to our frozen product line, our fresh meat division is dedicated to retail packing, offering a range that includes premium mince, meat preparation products, and exquisite steaks and joints. Our products are proudly featured on the shelves of numerous retailers in Ireland.
At the core of my department's responsibilities is ensuring the food safety, quality, and integrity of our products. We rigorously adhere to legislative standards and meet the specific requirements of our valued customers. With a focus on excellence, we strive to maintain the highest standards in all aspects of our operations.
Dawn Meats: Providing information to food consumers is vital for informed decision-making about the products they choose to consume. Therefore, it is crucial for our organization to receive the results of due diligence testing related to specific product claims on the packaging as quickly as possible.
Dawn Meats: We wanted to look at alternatives within the market for the analysis of fat, protein, moisture and connective tissue for our mince and meat preparation products. In the Spring of 2022, we were introduced to PerkinElmer's technology, and our first contact included an initial demonstration of the equipment capabilities, along with online support and trending abilities for results.
We worked with PerkinElmer over a 6-month period to build up further calibrations on some of our products. After benchmarking the DA 7250TM against our existing NIR provider’s machine, we were happy to make a purchase of the DA 7250 and to also recommend it to other sites within our larger business as an alternative to the incumbent provider across our group.
Dawn Meats: The support offered to us by PerkinElmer throughout the trial period was excellent – from calibration upgrades, software support, training etc. The support was always there and still is.
Dawn Meats: Since we started to use PerkinElmer’s DA 7250, we have been able to streamline our analysis of our ground meat products. We are able to set up individual products on the machine and track the results per product over time and use this to demonstrate continuous compliance with the retail label information. Our production and operations team also use the information to ensure our products are not too lean as there can be cost implications in such results.
Dawn Meats: PerkinElmer's technology has instilled confidence in our capacity to precisely measure the fat and connective tissue content in our meat patties, fresh mince, meatballs, and more. This ensures strict adherence to on-pack declarations, safeguarding our company's reputation and preserving the integrity of our customers' brands.
Since we started to work with PerkinElmer, we have found them very accommodating to the needs of our business, it has opened a door to further solutions that they offer that we would have otherwise been using our incumbent providers. It is always good to have alternative solutions and PerkinElmer is the first point of contact we make when looking for viable solutions on the measurements of fat, protein, moisture, and connective tissue in our ground meat products. Their solutions give us confidence that our products are produced in line with legislative and customer requirements.
We have already commenced looking at another potential project with the team at PerkinElmer to measure fat and connective tissue further upstream in our processing facility. This would give us even further information to make decisions earlier in the production process.