Animal By-Products Complete Management Guide
An animal product (animal by-products) is any material derived from the body of an animal. Examples are fat, flesh, blood, milk, eggs, and lesser known products, such as isinglass and rennet. Animal by-products, as defined by the USDA, are products harvested or manufactured from livestock other than muscle meat.
Animal by-products include things like eggs, hair, milk, bones, blood, bone marrow, hooves, feathers, animal horns, bones, hair, blood, hooves, internal organs (such as lungs), mammary glands, and udders, etc.
Animal by-products can be used in different ways:
- Animal fat can be used in the production and manufacture of soap, cosmetics, and candles.
- Animal Bones can be used to produce fertilizer or glue.
- Blood can be used in the making of livestock feed/ fertilizer.
Animal by-products Management Guide
Animal by-products are a great source of protein and have other vital uses, such as in the production of materials like cosmetics or fertilizers. However, they can also be hazardous to our environment and health if not properly managed.
Animal by-products can be managed in different ways depending on their functions. For example, the flesh from slaughtered animals is used generally for human consumption and other important purposes. The blood from slaughtered animals is used for consumption and for animal feed. Bones from slaughtered animals help in the production of bone meal or ground into powder for use in animal feed.
The basic concerns about the management of animal by-products are environmental pollution caused by improper disposal of all waste products such as manure; contamination with chemicals from pesticides, contamination of food products with microbial pathogens; or some drugs used during processing.
Handling animal by-products is a necessary part of life, whether you’re working as a butcher or have pets at home. These tips will help you handle them safely and with confidence.
1. Wearing gloves: Protecting yourself from any potentially harmful bacteria that might be present in the animal by-products by wearing gloves while handling them, especially if they are refrigerated or frozen.
2. Keeping your workspace tidy: To avoid any cross-contamination of all food items with animal by-products, keep your work area clean at all times and ensure you wash your hands before handling any other foodstuff.
Read Also: General Classification of Animal Products
3. Ensure you keep all things separate: Animal by-products can be placed in any plastic bags and kept separate from other foods until they are ready to be cooked or served, but do not store them in the same refrigerator as meat or other foods item that you plan on eating; this will help in preventing contamination of the products with harmful bacteria.
Animal by-products are a valuable resource material that can be used to create many vital products. However, they can also be a source of contamination if not handled carefully. These tips will help you in treating animal by-products in a way that minimizes the risk of contamination and maximizes the benefits of using them.
1. Keeping all materials and equipment clean and well-sanitized. Avoid using dirty or rusty tools or containers to process animal by-products. If you suspect your equipment has been contaminated with bacteria, disinfect it before processing any new material.
2. Dry all product materials before processing them further to ensure they don’t contaminate other materials in your work facility or end product.
3. Use working gloves carefully when handling animal by-products so you don’t transfer bacteria from your hands onto surfaces or into any food products made from these materials
Read Also: Agricultural Wastes Complete Management Guide
Animal By-Products Categories and Classification
Animal by-products can be classified into three categories according to their basic risk to human and animal health. There are different rules for disposing of waste in each of these categories.
You must ensure all three categories of animal by-products are separate at all times. If you mix any material from one category with material from another category, ensure you treat the whole mixture as being in the higher-risk category. This means you must treat a mixture containing categories 1, 2, and 3 as a higher-risk category.
Animal by-products Category 1
This category is for very high-risk material and like:
- Any animal and material suspected or confirmed to be infected by transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs)
- All experimented animal
- Pet and zoo animal carcasses
- All suspected wild animals that might have an infectious disease
- Waste material from international transport, ie aircraft, and ships
Animal by-products Category 2
This category for high-risk material like:
- Slaughtered animals to prevent the spread of disease
- manure and digestive tract content
Animal by-products Category 3
This category is for low-risk material and includes parts of animals that have been approved fit for human consumption in a slaughterhouse but which are not intended for human consumption, these include:
- Fish and meat from food manufacturers and retailers
- Former foodstuffs of animal origin – specifically food that is a waste due to manufacturing or packaging defects
- Catering waste, other than catering waste from international
- Eggs and other by-products that do not show signs of infectious disease
- Milk
- Sea animals like fish
- Shells
- Hooves, horns, and quills
Read Also: 8 Proper Methods of Waste Management
Handling and Storing Animal by-products
Animal by-products can be a valuable and vital resource for farmers, but they need to be handled and stored in the right way to ensure that the product is safe for use and can be stored long enough to make it from farm to market.
Handling and Storing Animal by-products;
1. Avoid handling all dead animals in warm weather, as great heat can cause the carcasses to release gases that will attract flies. If you must handle any dead animal during warm weather, wear work gloves and a mask to help prevent the flies away from you.
2. Ensure you remove all visible fat and blood from the product before storing it in your refrigerator or freezer. Fat will attracts insects, while blood can lead to the growth of bacteria on your meat.
3. Store product in tightly sealed containers or plastic bags that are clearly marked with a date for when it was kept in storage; if there is room for air inside of these containers, then try to store your product in a cooler instead of directly on ice because this will give you more flexibility when it is a ready time to remove some of your food from storage!
Read Also: Agricultural Waste Generation Sources and Characteristics
