December 22, 2009  

Scottish processors urged to rediscover Tripe

Worldwide Tripe experts have been consulted by Quality Meat Scotland during the creation of a new guide to help processors realise the potential of this type of offal.

The new tripe guide is one part of the £300,000 (US$481,000) budget which the Scottish government allocated to rekindle the trade in red meat products from what is known as "the 5th quarter" - the non-lean meat parts of the carcase such as offal and cheeks.

The project is also seeing specialists in offal harvesting visiting processors throughout Scotland and offering practical advice and demonstrations. If successful, it could help generate an extra £3 million (US$4.8 million) annually for the Scottish red meat industry.

In various parts of the world, including continental Europe, tripe (the offal from the stomachs of cattle and sheep) is viewed as a delicacy, featuring in dishes as diverse as Andouille sausages in France and the Pho in Vietnam.

If harvested properly and efficiently, not only do processors gain a profit from utilising all the parts of the carcase, not just the lean meat, it also saves them expensive costs for disposal, and this project will play a vital role in demonstrating the latest techniques and technologies to all Scottish abattoirs