Volume 13: Industry Processes and Controls
4. Mechanically recovered meat (MRM)
Some features of the industry
The nature and use of MRM
Supply and price of MRM
Regulation of production of MRM

The nature and use of MRM

4.2 If a butcher's knife was used to remove meat from a carcass, quite a lot of meat was left on the bone, especially on the ribs. ¹ In the 1950s mechanical hand tools were developed to minimise wastage by recovering this meat and, by the early 1960s, automatic machines were being employed. These machines have been in use since then to recover residual meat attached to the bone 'which would otherwise be difficult or uneconomical to remove'. ²

4.3 MRM has been defined as:

. . . residual material, off bones, obtained by machines operating on auger, hydraulic or other pressure principles in such a manner that the cellular structure of the material is broken down sufficiently for it to flow in puree form from the bone. ³

4.4 MRM was used to make various meat products including meat pies, sausages and so-called 'economy burgers'. ⁴ It has also been suggested that it was included in soups and prepared meals. ⁵ MRM was deemed suitable for such uses as the texture of the meat was not a necessary quality in the finished product. According to a minute from Dr Tim Render of MAFF's Animal Health (Disease Control) Division:

It can be used in any product containing chopped or minced meat. But in practice it is used in very few fresh, raw meat products and in few fresh cooked products. The main use is, apparently, in products at the bottom end of the market, such as frozen sausages, burgers and pies etc. ⁶

4.5 The concentration of MRM in such products would typically be about 10 per cent by weight. ⁷ However, it appears that some contained a higher proportion of this type of meat. Mr Stephen Ridge, Quality Assurance Executive with Somerfield supermarkets, told the Inquiry:

If you want to buy the cheapest economy burger you can get, it can be made very largely out of mechanically recovered meat. ⁸

4.6 The Inquiry also heard that MRM was widely used in institutional catering at outlets such as schools, hospitals, the armed services and prisons. ⁹ A report undertaken for MAFF in 1997 also found evidence of the use of MRM in baby food:

In the past, there has been uncertainty regarding the use of MRM in baby foods, but our survey indicates that at least one manufacturer was using beef MRM during the period 1983-88. ¹⁰

Supply and price of MRM

4.7 Meat-cutting plants removed the cuts of meats from the slaughtered carcasses. Some of these plants then processed the remaining bones themselves to recover MRM.

But equally you could have a stand-alone MRM plant where the bones are sent from the cutting premises to that plant and the MRM [is] produced quite separately from the cutting premises. ¹¹

4.8 During 1986-96, MRM was recovered from the carcasses of various animals, but the overwhelming majority of carcasses processed were those of chickens. About 100,000 tonnes of MRM was produced annually. Of this, 85 per cent was derived from poultry, only about 5 per cent (or 5,000 tonnes) from bovine material and the remaining 10 per cent from pigs and sheep. ¹² In 1995, MRM production from bovine material was reported as having fallen to approximately 2.2 per cent (or 2,000 tonnes) of all MRM, with around 90,000 tonnes of MRM a year still being produced from pigs, sheep and poultry. ¹³

4.9 It is not clear how many plants were producing MRM in 1986. Most producers of MRM processed meat from all species - chicken, sheep, cattle and pigs - but some processed from only one. In November 1995, it was reported that there were 'only six large plants in Britain producing beef MRM'. ¹⁴ By 29 January 1996, 14 operators had registered with MAFF as producers of MRM. ¹⁵

4.10 In 1995, Mr J Slinger of the Federation of Fresh Meat Wholesalers put the value of bovine MRM at 80p per kilogram. ¹⁶

Regulation of production of MRM

The Meat Products and Spreadable Fish Products Regulations 1984

4.11 The Meat Products and Spreadable Fish Products Regulations of 1984 did not prohibit the consumption of any part of a carcass. They did, however, define what could and could not be marketed as meat. They also prohibited the marketing of products that contained organs that were rarely consumed (such as lungs, rectums and testicles) unless the product was cooked prior to sale. The definition of meat included 'the skin, rind, gristle and sinew in amounts naturally associated with the flesh', as well as the more commonly consumed organs such as heart, kidney, liver and also head meat. The definition excluded brains, intestines and other organs that are not normally consumed. ¹⁷ Thus, under the Regulations, MRM was meat.

4.12 Bones from carcasses classified as unfit for human consumption could notbe used in the production of MRM. However, apart from the voluntary Code of Practice of the British Meat Manufacturers' Association (BMMA), there were no other restrictions on what bones from 'fit' carcasses were used in the process.

The BMMA Code of Practice

4.13 The BMMA issued a Code of Practice for the production of MRM as early as August 1987. ¹⁸ This Code aimed to regulate conditions for the production of MRM, including raw materials, manufacturing techniques, hygiene, temperature and packaging. The BMMA believed that:

. . . a product complying with this Standard will conform with good manufacturing practice and fall within the definition of meat set out in the [Meat Products and Spreadable Fish Products Regulations]. ¹⁹

The Code of Practice was consistent with, and largely based upon, domestic legislation, much of which had been made in response to EU legislation(see vol. 14: Responsibilities for Human and Animal Health).

4.14 In a paper prepared by MAFF for a SEAC meeting in November 1990, it was noted that 'the majority of manufacturers of beef MRM adhere to the British Meat Manufacturers' Association's (BMMA) draft code of practice'. ²⁰