CIP Code: 07.12.0506.00
Program Description: The Meat Processing Technology curriculum contains a broad range of courses and competencies to prepare meat cutters, slaughterhouse technicians, meat processors, and meat processing managers to successfully work in commercial or private meat processing facilities. The curriculum is designed in a “backwards scaffold” beginning with training in retail processing and progressing to slaughter and facility management to best meet employer and industry needs. The curriculum includes safety and sanitation, handling, storage and preparation methods, USDA inspection procedures and fabrication of retail cuts, wholesale cuts, slaughter techniques, basic meat grading, animal handling and feeding requirements, and value added meat products. The training program which may be completed over three trimesters provides meat handlers, cutters, technicians, butchers, and processors with the necessary skills to manage a meat processing operation safely and efficiently and acquiring a nationally recognized HAACP certification.
Program Outcomes: This program in divided into two trimesters. At the conclusion of this program students will be qualified to work in a retail setting including grocery, butcher shops, and restaurants, slaughterhouses, and meat processing and packaging facilities. Completion milestones are:
· At the completion of the first trimester the student will receive a certificate of “Retail Meat Cutter Technician”
· At the completion of the second trimester the student will receive a certificate of “Slaughter Floor Technician”
Professional Body: The USDA and Tennessee Department of Agriculture require minimum standards to operate and maintain a meat processing facility. This program will require students to meet USDA specifications for operation and obtain a nationally recognized industry certification from HAACP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) in safety and sanitation.
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