A Faster Way to Measure Bone Content

Introduction

In order to maximize the yields and remain within the USDA guidelines of mechanically separated products, a precise bone content determination is necessary. Traditional techniques require long digestion and titration times, expensive equipment, and/or out-of-house results; none of which is the best option for a plant in need of a quick and accurate answer in order to make a process control adjustment.

A rapid determination of bone content allows the most efficient adjustment of the mechanical deboning process. Quick feedback tells operators if the screen needs to be adjusted or has become old and needs to be replaced. This information can allow the operator to generate a product that is much closer to the desired specifications than would otherwise be possible when information takes hours or days to generate.

In order to determine bone content, the traditional procedure requires several steps. First, calcium is separated from the rest of the sample, and then either titration or Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP) is used to determine the amount of calcium. This number is used to calculate the amount of bone in the sample. Included in the process are factors such as: human error, calculation error, hazardous chemicals, and a significant amount of time. The Phoenix BLACK^TM completely eliminates three factors and substantially reduces the fourth.