break meat down into the retail cuts at the
packing house, vacuum-wrap them in plastic
precisely to avoid exposure to the air, and
deliver these prepackaged cuts to the
supermarket. Vacuum-packed meat has the
economic advantage of assembly-line
efficiency, and keeps for weeks (as much as
12 for beef, 6 to 8 for pork and lamb) without
any weight loss due to drying or trimming.
Once repackaged, meat has a display-case life
of a few days.
Carefully handled, well packaged meat
will be firm to the touch, moist and even-
colored in appearance, and mild and fresh in
smell.
Meat Spoilage and Storage
Fresh meat is an unstable food. Once a living
muscle has been transformed into a piece of
meat it begins to change, both chemically and
biologically. The changes that we associate