Diss. (sammanfattning) Uppsala : Uppsala universitet, 2009. / Härtill 3 uppsatser.

This thesis deals with the importance of boar tusks to the people at the Middle Neolithic settlement of Ajvide, Eksta parish on Gotland. The thesis discusses various issues concerning the Ajvide swine and their tusks, such as the question of domestication and the various functions ascribed to tusks. In order to cast light upon these questions the result of a study of all the tusks found on Ajvide thus far as well as their respective grave context is presented. The study also includes an osteological analysis of the tusks. Furthermore, ethnoarchaeological comparisons are made with Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu; contemporary societies presumed to share common traits with Middle Neolithic societies on Gotland and where swine and their tusks likewise assume a prominent position.

<p>Animal welfare during transport has for a long time been a problem around the world. Many animals are transported in stressful environments for slaughter. Even during Roman and Antiquity times wild animals were transported from Africa to the amusement parks in Rome. The aim of our work was to compare how well Sweden and Denmark are performing their inspections of transports of cattle and pigs for slaughter. Today, overloaded transports and poor treatment is not uncommon in Europe and every year 22 million animals are transported between countries. To ensure that animals are transported in a manner that leaves no unnecessary suffering, the EU has established a Council Regulation No 1 / 2005, which applies in all EU member countries. Each country will then supplement this with their own laws and regulations. Probably the best thing for the animals had been to use the so-called mobile slaughterhouses, so that the killing can be done on the farm. But so far the standard of the mobile slaughterhouses are inadequate. If this should work it would mean that the meat will be transported frozen and that the animals do not have to be stressed before slaughter.</p><p>Sweden and Denmark have two different systems for checking animal transports. In Sweden this is the responsibility of animal welfare inspectors at the county administration, whereas in Denmark the police are the responsible part. The number of inspections differs in the two countries and Denmark makes more inspections per year. A reason why Denmark performs more inspections is because of their geographic location, and many transports are just passing through while in Sweden there are more domestic transports. There is a lot that the two countries can learn from each other. Denmark has a much simpler checklist to follow during an inspection, but in Sweden, for example, they have a better education of animal welfare inspectors, who also judge harder during an inspection. However, it is better that less advanced checks are done than none at all. Sweden today has not as hard sanctions as Denmark; this means that Denmark can provide higher sanctions for infringements.</p><p>The conclusion is that Sweden has a better education while Denmark has a better statistic result of number of inspections per year.</p>

Animal welfare during transport has for a long time been a problem around the world. Many animals are transported in stressful environments for slaughter. Even during Roman and Antiquity times wild animals were transported from Africa to the amusement parks in Rome. The aim of our work was to compare how well Sweden and Denmark are performing their inspections of transports of cattle and pigs for slaughter. Today, overloaded transports and poor treatment is not uncommon in Europe and every year 22 million animals are transported between countries. To ensure that animals are transported in a manner that leaves no unnecessary suffering, the EU has established a Council Regulation No 1 / 2005, which applies in all EU member countries. Each country will then supplement this with their own laws and regulations. Probably the best thing for the animals had been to use the so-called mobile slaughterhouses, so that the killing can be done on the farm. But so far the standard of the mobile slaughterhouses are inadequate. If this should work it would mean that the meat will be transported frozen and that the animals do not have to be stressed before slaughter. Sweden and Denmark have two different systems for checking animal transports. In Sweden this is the responsibility of animal welfare inspectors at the county administration, whereas in Denmark the police are the responsible part. The number of inspections differs in the two countries and Denmark makes more inspections per year. A reason why Denmark performs more inspections is because of their geographic location, and many transports are just passing through while in Sweden there are more domestic transports. There is a lot that the two countries can learn from each other. Denmark has a much simpler checklist to follow during an inspection, but in Sweden, for example, they have a better education of animal welfare inspectors, who also judge harder during an inspection. However, it is better that less advanced checks are done than none at all. Sweden today has not as hard sanctions as Denmark; this means that Denmark can provide higher sanctions for infringements. The conclusion is that Sweden has a better education while Denmark has a better statistic result of number of inspections per year.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Uppsala : Uppsala universitet, 2006. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.

Grisen var en viktig del av kosten för delar av befolkningen i Egypten från den för-Dynastiska perioden och framåt. Trots omfattande benfynd är grisen sällan avbildad eller noterad i egyptisk ikonografi eller litteratur. Den här studien har som mål att beskriva varför grisen sällan var avbildad eller nedtecknad under den Dynastiska perioden från det Gamla Riket fram till det Nya Riket. Det finns flera teorier som beskriver varför grisen är sällan förekommande i bild och skrift från tidsperioden, främst ekonomiska, sociala och kulturella. Dessa teorier beskrivs och analyseras i uppsatsen. Källorna består av tidigare forskning och utgrävningsrapporter: Fynden är i huvudsak gjorda i bosättningar för arbetarklassen. Ett fåtal egyptiska texter och avbildningar med relevans för grisar kommer också att analyseras. Fynd från bosättningar indikerar att grisen var en viktig källa till protein i de byar som dominerades av hantverkare och bönder. Teorier som bygger på att det fanns religiösa eller kulturella tabun mot grisen har knappast stöd av fynd eller andra ursprungliga källor. Istället indikerar frånvaron av grisen i tidens litteratur och andra avbildningar att den hade ett begränsat ekonomiskt värde för den styrande klassen. Det torde vara det huvudsakliga skälet till varför man inte ansåg grisen vara värdig eller relevant att avbilda.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karol. inst. / Härtill 5 uppsatser.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences : Sveriges lantbruksuniv., 2006. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.

<p>Superchilling is a method that can be used to prolong the shelf life of foods by partial freezing. Knowledge of the effects of this method on both the shelf life and quality of foods is important in order to find optimal processing and storage conditions and is of great importance both for the industry and for the consumers. Different raw materials of muscle foods were studied with the purpose of creating a basis for further improvements of both the process and the storage conditions. Products from the commercially important species pork (both roasts and rib steaks), Atlantic salmon (both vacuum packed and wrapped fillets) and Atlantic cod (vacuum packed fillets) were chosen to represent different muscle foods.</p><p>Based on both sensory and microbial evaluations, the superchilled storage improved shelf life of pork roasts from 2 to 16 weeks, and shelf life might even be further prolonged if temperature is kept more constant. The H2S-producing bacteria in superchilled cod fillets did not exceed the limit of consumption during the whole storage period of six weeks, while the microbial shelf life of the ice chilled fillets was estimated to be 8 days after processing.</p><p>Quality changes have been studied with focus on biochemical and physiochemical properties. One of the major goals in meat and fish processing is the ability to retain water and it was observed that drip loss was lower in superchilled samples compared to traditionally chilled samples in all species studied. However, the subsequent liquid loss was higher both in pork roasts and in cod fillets.</p><p>The extractability of protein was used as a tool to monitor protein denaturation. It was found that myofibrillar proteins denatured more easily during superchilled than during traditionally chilled storage both in salmon and in cod fillets. This was confirmed by electrophoresis in salmon. The amount of free amino acids were higher in cod than in salmon and increased more during superchilled storage than during ice chilled storage indicating exoproteolytic activity during storage. Activities of cathepsins B and B + L in salmon fillets were relatively stable during the storage period in all storage groups, demonstrating that these enzymes are not deactivated at the selected storage temperatures and may therefore lead to softening during subsequent chilled storage.</p><p>In superchilled samples of all species studied, white spots emerged on the product surface. However, the appearance of spots did not correspond either to higher drip loss or to higher microbial growth on surface of these samples. On the contrary, the total plate counts of superchilled samples were lower than of the other storage groups. This observation also applied to iron agar counts on cod fillets. These findings are interpreted as a strong indication of that the spots most likely were not of microbial origin.</p><p>The optimal superchilling process and storage conditions remains to be found for the products studied. From the present results it is reasonable to suggest that optimal storage temperature for the vacuum packed salmon fillets is found between the superchilled temperatures in the present experiments. The quality both of the pork roasts and the cod fillets would probably benefit from a storage temperature slightly closer to 0 °C than those studied. It can also be assumed that the control of the superchilling process is more essential to cod than to salmon and pork. In addition, the properties of the raw material are crucial in order to obtain high quality of products after processing and storage.</p> / Paper I-III are reprinted with kind permission from Elsevier, sciencedirect.com

Superchilling is a method that can be used to prolong the shelf life of foods by partial freezing. Knowledge of the effects of this method on both the shelf life and quality of foods is important in order to find optimal processing and storage conditions and is of great importance both for the industry and for the consumers. Different raw materials of muscle foods were studied with the purpose of creating a basis for further improvements of both the process and the storage conditions. Products from the commercially important species pork (both roasts and rib steaks), Atlantic salmon (both vacuum packed and wrapped fillets) and Atlantic cod (vacuum packed fillets) were chosen to represent different muscle foods. Based on both sensory and microbial evaluations, the superchilled storage improved shelf life of pork roasts from 2 to 16 weeks, and shelf life might even be further prolonged if temperature is kept more constant. The H2S-producing bacteria in superchilled cod fillets did not exceed the limit of consumption during the whole storage period of six weeks, while the microbial shelf life of the ice chilled fillets was estimated to be 8 days after processing. Quality changes have been studied with focus on biochemical and physiochemical properties. One of the major goals in meat and fish processing is the ability to retain water and it was observed that drip loss was lower in superchilled samples compared to traditionally chilled samples in all species studied. However, the subsequent liquid loss was higher both in pork roasts and in cod fillets. The extractability of protein was used as a tool to monitor protein denaturation. It was found that myofibrillar proteins denatured more easily during superchilled than during traditionally chilled storage both in salmon and in cod fillets. This was confirmed by electrophoresis in salmon. The amount of free amino acids were higher in cod than in salmon and increased more during superchilled storage than during ice chilled storage indicating exoproteolytic activity during storage. Activities of cathepsins B and B + L in salmon fillets were relatively stable during the storage period in all storage groups, demonstrating that these enzymes are not deactivated at the selected storage temperatures and may therefore lead to softening during subsequent chilled storage. In superchilled samples of all species studied, white spots emerged on the product surface. However, the appearance of spots did not correspond either to higher drip loss or to higher microbial growth on surface of these samples. On the contrary, the total plate counts of superchilled samples were lower than of the other storage groups. This observation also applied to iron agar counts on cod fillets. These findings are interpreted as a strong indication of that the spots most likely were not of microbial origin. The optimal superchilling process and storage conditions remains to be found for the products studied. From the present results it is reasonable to suggest that optimal storage temperature for the vacuum packed salmon fillets is found between the superchilled temperatures in the present experiments. The quality both of the pork roasts and the cod fillets would probably benefit from a storage temperature slightly closer to 0 °C than those studied. It can also be assumed that the control of the superchilling process is more essential to cod than to salmon and pork. In addition, the properties of the raw material are crucial in order to obtain high quality of products after processing and storage. / Paper I-III are reprinted with kind permission from Elsevier, sciencedirect.com