Integrierte Vermeidung und Verminderung der Umweltverschmutzung

2.2.1.3.2 Ageing (D.14)
Chapter 2
Ham spends long periods of time curing under strictly controlled conditions, e.g. temperature
and air humidity. In the past, ageing could take one or more years, but today, with improved
technology and modern processing installations along with old family secrets, a fully cured
country ham can be produced within 6 to 12 months.
2.2.1.3.3 Washing (A.4)
Salt and meat residuals are removed by brushing and washing. This step produces a significant
amount of waste containing fats, proteins and salt. Before washing, it is better to trim the area
round the thighbone head and to cut the hip.
2.2.1.3.4 Coating (D.13)
Before drying, hams are checked and then coated and transported to the drying chambers.
Coating comprises covering the muscular part of the pig legs with pork fat or a mixture of fat
and salt, pepper and flour, which has been previously sterilised. The ham then remains in these
large rooms for several months, up to one year. The humidity and temperature in the room are
controlled.
2.2.1.3.5 Packing (H.1)
With some products, the bones are removed before packaging. Other usually more traditional
products are sold with the whole pig leg.
2.2.1.3.6 Gas flushing (H.2)
As well as traditional methods, gas flushing is also often used for packing hams.
2.2.2 Fish and shellfish
This sector includes the process of white or pelagic fish; fatty fish; shellfish, i.e. crustaceans and
molluscs, and fresh water fish. Fish processing is very widespread and varied. Many species of
fish are mass processed, including cod, tuna, herring, mackerel, pollock, hake, haddock, salmon,
anchovy and pilchards. Marine fish account for 90 % of the fish production in the world. The
other 10 % includes fresh water fish and farmed fish. Approximately 75 % of the world’s fish
production is for human consumption, with the remaining 25 % used for producing fish-meal
and fish-oil. Currently, about 30 % of all the fish produced for human consumption are
marketed fresh.
Fish processing most commonly takes place at on-shore processing facilities. However, some
processing such as the gutting, cleaning and sometimes head removal of fish can take place at
sea, on board fishing vessels, e.g. when processing white fish that has a low oil content. These
fish are then kept in ice or are frozen until they arrive at the installation, where they are thawed
or re-iced and stored until the time of further processing. Fatty fish have oils distributed
throughout the fillet and in the belly cavity. They have different oil contents depending on the
species, but on average fatty fish fillets may have up to a 30 % oil content. Typically, they are
not gutted on board, as this is carried out later in the processing installations.
The pretreatment of white fish involves the removal of any ice and a screening based on their
size. Large fish may also be scaled depending on the process, although this is not carried out
when skinning is performed.
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