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A meat absorbent pad or meat pad, colloquially known in North America as a meat diaper, refers to the absorbent pad found in pre-packaged (or case-ready) meats. Its purpose is to absorb the juices released from the meat during storage and transportation, helping maintain the meat's appearance and reduce spoilage. Case-ready meats almost always contain one or two meat absorbent pads which absorb and retain the juices, blood, and other fluids that seep from the meats, which can be messy, may leak, are often contaminated with bacteria, and are generally unsightly for the consumer.
Chilling meat can help reduce the amount of
A meat absorbent pad or meat pad, colloquially known in North America as a meat diaper, refers to the absorbent pad found in pre-packaged (or case-ready) meats. Its purpose is to absorb the juices released from the meat during storage and transportation, helping maintain the meat's appearance and reduce spoilage. Case-ready meats almost always contain one or two meat absorbent pads which absorb and retain the juices, blood, and other fluids that seep from the meats, which can be messy, may leak, are often contaminated with bacteria, and are generally unsightly for the consumer.
Chilling meat can help reduce the amount of exudate
An exudate is a fluid released by an organism through pores or a wound, a process known as exuding or exudation.
''Exudate'' is derived from ''exude'' 'to ooze' from Latin language, Latin 'to (ooze out) sweat' (' 'out' and ' 'to sweat').
Medi ...
that is released from the meat, which is also known as drip, purge, or weep. However, it is normal for meat to lose 1–2 percent of its weight due to this liquid loss, while anything more is considered excessive.
In the United States, meat absorbent pads are food contact materials
Food contact materials or food contacting substances (FCS) are materials that are intended to be in contact with food. These can be things that are quite obvious like a glass or a can for soft drinks as well as machinery in a food factory or a ...
. As such, under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act
The United States Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (abbreviated as FFDCA, FDCA, or FD&C) is a set of laws passed by the United States Congress in 1938 giving authority to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to oversee the food safety ...
, suppliers using them are required to maintain a "Letter of Guaranty" on file.
Construction
Several constructions for meat absorbent pads have been developed. The absorbent pads are typically made from materials such as cellulose, silica gel,sorbent
A sorbent is an insoluble material that either absorbs or adsorbs liquids or gases. They are frequently used to remove pollutants and in the cleanup of chemical accidents and oil spills. Besides their uses in industry, sorbents are used in comm ...
nonwoven fabric
Nonwoven fabric or non-woven fabric is a fabric-like material made from staple fibre (short) and long fibres (continuous long), bonded together by chemical, mechanical, heat or solvent treatment. The term is used in the textile manufacturing in ...
, superabsorbent polymer
A superabsorbent polymer (SAP) (also called slush powder) is a water-absorbing hydrophilic homopolymers or copolymers that can absorb and retain extremely large amounts of a liquid relative to its own mass.
Water-absorbing polymers, which are cl ...
s, or other absorptive materials that can hold a significant amount of liquid relative to their size. They are usually covered in a non-toxic plastic wrapping that allows the liquid to seep in and stay trapped within the pad. Antimicrobial
An antimicrobial is an agent that kills microorganisms (microbicide) or stops their growth (bacteriostatic agent). Antimicrobial medicines can be grouped according to the microorganisms they are used to treat. For example, antibiotics are used aga ...
s are sometimes included. The pads help regulate drip loss, and their size is in part determined by the meat water holding capacity.
Readily biodegradable meat drip pads are available, though in limited use due to their higher costs. While packaging waste is a concern, the main priority for vendors is to minimize food waste caused by spoilage. Active packaging antibacterial
An antibiotic is a type of antimicrobial substance active against bacteria. It is the most important type of antibacterial agent for fighting bacterial infections, and antibiotic medications are widely used in the treatment and prevention ...
indicator absorbent pads that inhibit bacterial growth and visually signal meat deterioration are being explored through the use of nanofiber
Nanofibers are fibers with diameters in the Nanometre, nanometer range (typically, between 1 nm and 1 μm). Nanofibers can be generated from different polymers and hence have different physical properties and application potentials. Examples ...
s and silver nanoparticle
Silver nanoparticles are nanoparticles of silver of between 1 nm and 100 nm in size. While frequently described as being 'silver' some are composed of a large percentage of silver oxide due to their large ratio of surface science, surf ...
s.
If the absorbent pads are accidentally cooked to the point of melting, the associated meat should not be consumed. If the pads are pre-moistened to add weight to the package, it may be considered to be a form of weight fraud.
References
{{packaging Food packaging Meat Retail packaging