Volume 1: Findings and Conclusions
2. Setting the context
Slaughterhouses

124 Cattle that were destined for human consumption had to be slaughtered in a licensed slaughterhouse or abattoir (see vol. 13: Industry Processes and Controls). Sick cattle or those that had died on the farm would instead be taken to a knacker's yard or a hunt kennel and their meat and by-products would not enter the human food chain.

125 In the 1980s there were around 1,000 slaughterhouses in England, Wales and Scotland, although this number was steadily decreasing as economies of scale and higher health and environmental standards pushed the smaller premises out of business. This decline in the number of slaughterhouses meant that more cattle had to travel long distances between the farm and slaughterhouse, and it was not unusual for the largest slaughterhouses to receive cattle from all over Great Britain.

126 At this time the hygienic production of meat was governed in England and Wales by Regulations made under the Slaughterhouses Act 1974 and the Food Act 1984. There was in fact a two-tier system of regulation that differentiated between plants producing meat entirely for domestic consumption and those producing some or all of their meat for export to other EU Member States. The regulations for export slaughterhouses were more wide-ranging and required a more thorough system of inspections.

127 Slaughtering an animal, cutting it up and separating its constituent parts is a messy business however it is done. In the 1980s most large slaughterhouses had adopted a production-line type of procedure which enabled them to carry out the process as quickly as possible.

128 In a typical large slaughterhouse animals were unloaded from lorries into the holding area and then moved towards the slaughter hall in single file along special passageways. They were then fed one by one into a pen for stunning. There were two methods of stunning used for adult animals. The captive bolt method involved firing a metal bolt into the animal's brain, leaving a hole in its skull; the non-penetrative concussion method involved firing a mushroom-shaped bolt at the animal's head, thus rendering the animal unconscious without penetrating its brain or skull. It was common practice, following captive bolt stunning, to insert a pithing rod into the hole in the skull in order to cause further damage to the brain and spinal cord, and thus to prevent the animal from kicking due to reflex muscular action.

129 Once the animal was unconscious, its hind legs were shackled and it was hoisted to an overhead rail, known as the slaughter line. Hanging with its head closest to the floor, the animal could then be moved around the plant to the various stages of the slaughtering process. It would first be moved along until it was directly over the bleeding trough, where it would finally be killed by severing the large blood vessels in its neck. Blood would either be allowed to pour into the bleeding trough, or alternatively it would be sucked out through a hollow bleeding knife attached to a vacuum pump.

130 Once bled, the carcass was moved down the line to be dressed. First the forefeet, hind feet, udder or pizzle were removed with a knife, then the hide would be pulled off with a powered hide puller, and after that the head would be cut off. (Head meat would later be harvested either at the slaughterhouse or at special head-boning plants.) Then the abdominal wall would be cut open and the internal organs would tumble out onto the inspection table. Organs such as liver and kidneys which would go for human consumption were separated out and sent to the 'offal room' for sorting. The rest of the 'abdominal mass' was sent, either down chutes or in containers, to a different area known as the 'gut room'.

131 The final stage in the process involved splitting what was left of the carcass and removing the spinal cord. A cut would be made down the length of the spinal column using a mechanical saw.

132 Hygiene Regulations demanded that each carcass had to be inspected by a qualified inspector at various stages in the process in order to establish its fitness for human consumption. Only when parts unfit for human consumption had been removed from it could a 'health stamp' be applied to the carcass by the inspector.

133 Responsibility for the regulation of slaughterhouse practices was split between the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) and the local authorities (see vol. 14: Responsibilities for Human and Animal Health). The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food was responsible for making Regulations under the Slaughterhouses Act 1974, and in particular had the power to make Regulations about the construction, layout and equipment in plants. The local District Councils or Unitary Authorities were responsible for the enforcement of these Regulations. They issued licences to slaughterhouses and to slaughtermen, they provided the meat inspectors, and they had the power to make byelaws (subject to confirmation by the Minister) to ensure that slaughterhouses were kept in sanitary conditions and were properly managed.

134 Meat and other animal by-products that were classified as unfit for human consumption had to be disposed of within 48 hours of slaughter. Complex Regulations prescribed how unfit meat was to be handled and much was sent direct to renderers for processing. Unprocessed blood could be sprayed on fields as a fertiliser, subject to the agreement of the local authority responsible for the slaughterhouse and the licensing of the recipient farm.