PIC (Pig Improvement Company) has announced the PIC Total Carcass Value Handbook, a new business resource for pork processors and producers. 

“The new handbook covers the practical aspects of pork production and includes detailed information about total carcass value,” says Andrzej Sosnicki, Ph.D., PIC Technical Director of Applied Meat Science. “Readers can learn how carcass value is quantified and how they impact value at their point in the supply chain.”

The PIC Total Carcass Value Handbook explains factors that contribute to pork lean and fat quality, including:

• Genetics
• Nutrition and diet formulation
• Pig handling on the farm, during transportation, and at the processing facility
• Stunning, carcass handling and chilling

Many readers will be familiar with some of these factors from the PIC Pork Quality Blueprint, which was first published in 1996. The PIC Blueprint was one of the first documents to outline industry standards for pork quality. It has been adopted by several industry organizations as a guide, and the company continues to update the PIC Blueprint with new information as it becomes available.  

“The new handbook does not replace the PIC Blueprint,” Sosnicki says. “The handbook expands on the PIC Blueprint concepts and provides detailed information to help our customers and partners achieve success.”

PIC’s Applied Meat Science team developed the PIC Total Carcass Value Handbook using experience gained from the team’s scientific in-house and collaborative research, as well as their work auditing and analyzing pork processing facilities. 

“Our work has connected us with most of the top 150 pork production systems in the world. They often invite our team to examine their systems to ensure practices are up-to-date,” says Sosnicki. “The information in the handbook is based not just on academic work but also on decades of experience.”

Pork producers, processors, and other industry professionals can find information in the handbook that’s relevant to their role in the supply chain. Examples include:

• Tools and best practices for measuring aspects of pork quality such as pH, color, tenderness, and marbling 
• Explanation of which aspects of pork quality are influenced at the farm and which are influenced in processing

“The PIC Total Carcass Value Handbook can help stakeholders realize the genetic potential of the pig,” says Sosnicki. “It supports continuous improvement across the pork industry.”

Read or download the Total Carcass Value handbook at pic.com/total-carcass-value-handbook.

Source: PIC