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What is MSM?

Production of chicken meat for retail involves removal of primal cuts (e.g breast fillets). To avoid getting bone splinters in the product, the machines or the manual workers are required to cut the meat away from the bone. A significant amount of residual meat remains on the carcass after deboning.

The production of large poultry meat volumes together with the residual meat left on each carcass means that there is a considerable amount of meat wasted. This valuable meat may be carefully removed from the carcass and used for meat products in order to reduce meat waste.

Different types of technologies are available for mechanical separation of remaining meat on the poultry carcass. The technology and pressure used to remove the residual meat can be adjusted to obtain different yields and qualities.

What is Mechanically Separated Meat (MSM)?

 

MSM is the abbreviation for Mechanically Separated Meat.

By the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) MSM is characterized by three properties:

  • MSM is produced from meat residues that adhere to bones after deboning, and not from deboned meat
  • Meat residues are mechanically extracted
  • The extraction results in loss or modification of muscle fibre structure
    (EFSA Journal 2013; 11(3):3137).

International organisations relating to MSM