Pork variety meat offal global safety and quality literature search and industry survey

The ability of the pork industry to enhance profitability is best found through the utilization of low value products that are not commonly accepted for consumption in the United States, ie offal products. Recent analysis has indicated great potential to add value to pork if offal and specifically variety meats can be exported. The goal of this project was to conduct a literature review to determine what information currently exist related to the real and perceived safety of US pork offal versus pork offal from other countries and to determine the opportunity and utilization of such products. A review of literature was conducted across both scientific and trade journals to determine previous research/ analysis conducted. This review found little previous documented research conducted. In addition, while interest/ current export practices among packers/ processors varied greatly, the opportunity to explore such markets around the globe with a variety of products exist and could be economically advantageous.