WASHINGTON – Only 34 percent of Americans know that meat and poultry plants are sanitized daily, according to the American Meat Institute. Armed with this knowledge, AMI sought to change that statistic with a new video that shows the plant sanitation process from start to finish.

The new Glass Walls video, “
Sanitation in the Meat Industry”, takes viewers on a guided tour of the sanitation process inside a typical facility. John Butts, vice president of research at Land O'Frost leads the tour. Viewers see crews taking apart each piece of machinery; scrubbing the equipment, ceilings and floors with foam cleansers; testing for microbes and US Department of Agriculture inspection and approval before a plant can reopen for business.

“As part of our efforts to increase transparency and show what happens in meat plants, we want people to see how thoroughly plants are cleaned every day,” said Janet Riley, AMI senior vice president of Public Affairs and Member Services. “We clean each piece of equipment after use, though we ensure it isn’t just visibly clean, but microbiologically clean before we process. The steps we take in our plants are similar to those a hospital would take to clean an operating room. While I pride myself on having a clean kitchen at home, my efforts pale in comparison so what happens every day in meat and poultry plants.”

“Sanitation in the Meat Industry” is the fourth video in the AMI Glass Walls series.