Advanced Meat Recovery (AMR) is a slaughterhouse process by which residual meat trimmings are extracted from bones and other carcass materials. This meat is comparable in appearance, texture, and composition to meat trimmings and similar meat products derived by hand. This new machinery separates meat from bone by scraping, shaving, or pressing the meat from the bone without breaking or grinding the bone. Product produced by advanced meat recovery machinery can be labeled using terms associated with hand-deboned product (e.g., "beef trimmings" and "ground beef").
The AMR machinery cannot grind, crush, or pulverize bones to remove edible meat tissue, and bones must emerge essentially intact. The meat produced in this manner can contain no more than 150 milligrams (mg) of calcium per 100 grams product (within a tolerance of 30 mg. of calcium). Products that exceed the calcium content limit must be labeled "mechanically separated beef or pork" in the ingredients statement.
AMR has been the subject of controversy recently, as some fear that it increases the likelihood of BSE contamination of the meat.
Advancedmeatrecovery systems squeeze cow bones to force out any meat still clinging to them after the animal is slaughtered.
Meat processors have also reconfigured their facilities to switch from manual to AMR technology, and would have to hire new labor if the technology were banned, which is what many consumer groups want.
The meat industry says the amount of central nervous system matter that has made it into the food chain since advancedmeatrecovery was introduced in 1994 is small, and the chances of humans getting sick from it are even smaller.
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