slaughterhouse (Question)

[tiac03]

I was Wondering about chemicals used in slaughterhouses. I live relatively close to a chicken slaughterhouse and sometimes when I go by, their dumpster and the area around the dumpster is full of white powder/granules. I was reading somewhere that both Sodium nitrate and Sodium chlorate are used in the meat industry (the latter to kill salmonella). Would anyone here know if it is indeed one of these two chemicals that is being used? (I ask because apart from some cleaning possible impurities (chicken juices) out of it this would be a great source seeing as it is free and in bulk)

Am I just caught up in wishful thinking or is this possible that i am sitting on a "goldmine"?

(I'm sorry if this is an absolutely stupid question)

[wrench352]

Soooooo,peekin in the dumpsters behind the slaughterhouse huh? You sir are a troubled,troubled man.
My second thought is the white powder is lime to keep the flies away and the smell down.

[festergrump]

I’d have to admit that I’d have given it a peek or two, also. You’re probably right about the lime, Wrench. I’ve given thought to using the nitrogen in blood for tempering a blade before. I’m a cheap bastard and it seemed to work for Caligula…(never got around to it, though…*sigh*)

[Bert]

I’ve given thought to using the nitrogen in blood for tempering a blade before.

Ever heard the story about needing 2 oxen and a slave to make a sword? (Hint: You may be able to re-use one of the oxen, but you need a new slave every time)

[festergrump]

Ah, yes, re-used…not wasted. If my slave played her cards right she might “temper” both of my swords. Then I suppose garnished with an apple-gag and slow turned for a few hours…

Really, dumpster diving can produce a lot of useful stuff. Be mindful of what businesses you’re searching and you’ll surely come out ahead. I’d definitely be weary of any company disposing of biomedical material, for instance (unless you make soap, right, Jack’s Complete?), but companies often dispose of perfectly good tools, machinery (which might just need new motor windings), even raw plastic and metal products that can be easily reworked to a useful fashion.

I once lived near an aerosol canning plant that was an absolute HAVEN for silencer parts. Those concave bottoms, you know…can’t beat ‘em!

[tiac03]

Thanks for the Info. Next time I see a pile of it I will take some with a can or something and check it out. I didn't know they were allowed to coat the chicken with lime though (remember seeing coated chicken meat there when I was younger) (we used to hang around that area alot... hell even got us some chickens from there (they run away alot 1 or 2 per truck)).

Festergrump is right though if you can forget pride, garbage collecting and dumpster diving gets you alot. electronics from Thrown away TV's, radio's, computers, speakers. I've found aluminum blocks near an aluminum turning "factory" (and turnings/dust), metal from near the train tracks,Tubing (thick paper,metal, aluminum), perfectly good staple gun, screwdrivers, hammers, [glass, plastic and metal containers of all sorts], etc

I remember one day finding about 30 dollars worth of coins behind a car wash because they would suck up the coins with the vacuums, water washed away most of the crap and exposed all the coins. (I was about 7-10 at the time so it was a big deal for me.)


Personally my utter cheapness overcomes my pride... (as seen by the topic)

well good hunting...

[wrench352]

Perhaps I misread your question.I think the obvious resolution to this is to knock on the office door and ask. "Hey,I'm curious,whats that white stuff all over the place by the dumpster?",or failing that try and catch somebody throwing stuff out and ask em then.
They wouldnt coat the chicken in lime,it would taste vile.They maybe would use lime to again keep the smell down around the dumpster(assuming lots of blood and bits of chicken) and the flies away.

[tom haggen]

All I know is I wouldn't want to be eating poultry that has been contaminated with NaClO3.

[tiac03]

yea I guess chewing on sodium chlorate everytime you went to KFC would suck.

although they use sodium nitrite in meat curing and that is toxic too so you never know what they are capable of...

well I will just have to grab some of the chemical one day and test it out, then guess about what it can be then. Thank you all for your input.

[kingspaz]

i wouldn't want to eat a chicken coated in NaClO3 either. but theres no mention of that in the thread. lime = CaO

i'd imagine it is used since it reacts with water, drying the surface of the chicken chunks, thus making it smell ALOT less.

[wrench352]

Oy,
well, we use it(lime) to dry up horse piss or it will reek of ammonia in short time.Although I am no expert, its my belief the ammonia is a byproduct of bacteria eating the nitrogen in the urine. Same with chicken blood,its full of protein(lots of nitrogen).Try this experiment sometime,take some bloodmeal(dried chickenblood) add some water,let sit for a couple days.It should reek of ammonia,at least this was my experience.Again Im not sure of the reasonings but lime will not only dry out the blood but also,because its very basic,alters the ph. I guess by doin this it prevents the bacteria from colonizing.Theres different kinds of lime Im told so you might not get pure CaO,which can be very useful itself :)
The jerky I eat is loaded with sodium nitrate,I dunno bout sodium chlorate,but I'll give tiac the benefit of the doubt.Hey isnt that weedkiller too?Hmm.

[tiac03]

I asked about it because I know that Sodium chlorate is used to kill salmonella but I wondered if they actually used it in the actual "shop". They have done studies where they mix small doses into the last meal of animals, so i wondered if they actually sprayed or coated chicken in it then washed it off afterwards/ or just covered the area with it to kill off any lingering bacteria. Looking deeper into the subject it seems highly unlikely that they do.(although I havn't been able to find a list of chemicals used in the slaughter industry) (really not too easy to find info on the web anymore... everyone either wants to sell you stuff or link you to a site where they sell stuff...)

When fed in low doses, sodium chlorate kills Salmonella typhimurium and Escherichia coli O157:H7 in pigs and cows. Agricultural Research Service scientists in College Station, Texas, have shown that levels of these harmful bacteria can be reduced in the intestinal tract of pigs and cows if they're given sodium chlorate before slaughter.


And yeah sodium chlorate is used in pesticides from what I was reading. (I said sodium nitrate and nitrite is used to keep the meat red in dryed stuff like jerky. I didn't say Na-chlorate was.)[once again no experiece with meat curing all information from sites that I was looking for info about the chemicals on]

[Hang-Man]

Sodium Chlorate is water soluble and is used as a weed killer. Not a winning combination for something you want to put on your food.

Sodium Nitrate is Saltpetre, and is not used to cure meat (I heard it was used for 'pickleing beef' but I can't confirm that.

Sodium Nitrite is however, it's also used to prevent corrosion

[tiac03]

Sodium nitrate (NaNO3) and its close relative sodium nitrite (NaNO2) are preservatives that you find in lots of processed meats. Stuff like salami, hot dogs, pepperoni, bologna, ham, bacon and SPAM all normally contain sodium nitrate as one of the ingredients. Fresh meats generally do not contain any added chemicals, so the question is, "Why is sodium nitrate added to all of these processed meats?"

There are two reasons for adding these chemicals to processed meats:

They preserve the color of the meat (meaning that it looks pink like SPAM rather than gray like cooked hamburger). You have probably noticed that nearly all meats that contain sodium nitrate or sodium nitrite remain pink or red even though they are cooked during processing.
These chemicals inhibit botulism to some degree.
The jury is out on how harmful these substances are. Sodium nitrite reacts with stomach acid and other chemicals in the stomach to produce nitrosamines, which have been shown to cause cancer in animals when consumed in large quantities. However, there's not much sodium nitrate/nitrite in meats, and we consume sodium nitrate/nitrite from other foods as well, so it is not clear that they are harmful in the quantities we get from meats. Some people recommend that small children and pregnant women avoid these chemicals altogether just to be safe. Since neither canned chicken nor tuna have any redness to protect, they generally do not contain nitrates.




answers everyone's question.... damned "howstuffworks", damned it to hell.