Preparing for the next phase

An important part of the project is to test the Meat Factory Cell (MFC) prototype under more real-life conditions in an abattoir. Therefore, the MFC will be dismantled and relocated in Kulmbach, Germany, where our German partner Max Rubner Institute (MRI) is located close to a municipal abattoir. This deployment must be thoroughly planned, along with the testing activities, once the MFC is up and running in Kulmbach. Hence, a team from MRI visited NMBU and Animalia for three days in August/September.

On Tuesday 30. August, they visited the lab during a trial, to observe and understand more of how the MFC operates. Later, we had a meeting with key persons from the project, discussing all important issues related to the deployment and testing.

On Wednesday 31. August, the MRI team visited Animalia’s pilot plant, and then had a meeting with Animalia’s Food Safety team, to go through food safety issues related to the testing. Unlike the NMBU lab, the MFC in the Kulmbach facilities will be rigged for making meat in accordance with food safety regulations and approved by local authorities. This important task demands minutely planning and documentation. Also, how to further process the primal cuts into various meat products, was discussed, along with all the required and necessary registrations and measurements along the way.

The last day of the MRI visit was also spent at NMBU, attending another butchering. The team focused on how and where to sample for microbiological testing, and other issues related to the MFC deployment. All in all, the three days provided lots of useful information and conclusions for all parts of the RoBUTCHER project. We now look forward to the deployment from mid November to mid December, as well as the trial period at the beginning of 2023.

Written by Frøydis Bjerke, Animalia