Rendering tallow production

Poultry fat production rates are difficult to determine, because there are no formal governmental talleys for this commodity. U.S. industry sources estimate current annual production of rendered poultry fat in that country to be 900,000 metric tons, or about one-tenth of global tallow production (61). This probably represents a sizeable proportion of global poultry fat production. Presently most of this goes into animal feeds. Historically this was the poultry feed market, although recently there has been an increase in use in other animal feeds as well. 

Such feedstocks include non-refined virgin oils, used cooking oils that commonly have an FFA level of >6% and tallow (6%), yellow grease obtained from rendered animal fat (up to 15% in FFAs) and brown grease obtained mainly from traps installed in commercial, municipal or industrial sewage facilities (>15%). The production of... 

Along with the reduced consunq>tion of meat products, the production of rendered animal fats has also declined. Beef tallow consumption has increased greatly since 1950 due to its distinctive flavor and stability as a frying medium. In 1985, 460,000 metric tons of beef tallow were used in the U.S. for baking and frying, but this figure was reduced to 289,000 metric tons in 1990 and is probably less this year. The decreased production of beef tallow has made it unprofitable for renderers to continue Ae processing procedures required to produce edible tallow (i). 

Rendered beef, pork, poultry, and other animal fats are not well reported internationally, and global statistics are unreliable. Total production of fats in the United States by the rendering industry for 2000 is estimated at 4.18 million metric tons.68 Outputs of all rendering facilities captive to integrated broiler operations might not be included. Of the amount reported, 76 percent is inedible tallows and greases, 18 percent is edible beef or mutton tallows, and 6 percent is edible pork lard. 

Rendering. The rendering process is applied on a large scale to the production of animal fats, such as tallow, lard, bone fat, and whale oil. The fatty tissues are chopped into small pieces and are boiled in steam digesters. The fat is gradually liberated from the cells and floats to the surface of the water, where it is collected by skimming. A similar method is used in the extraction of palm oil from fresh palm fruits. 

As animal fats are a potential feedstock for biodiesel production, Cummins et al. (142) assessed the danger of a human contracting CJD as a result of the use of tallow as a fuel in diesel engines. They concluded that the risk was several orders of magnitude less than the rate of spontaneous appearance of CJD. Thus, scientific analysis indicates that processed (i.e., rendered) animal fat is not an agent of transmission of BSE. Nonetheless, especially in the United Kingdom, the public remains skeptical. This has in some cases led to less use of animal fats in feed applications. Especially in the United Kingdom, the BSE epidemic has reduced the amount of domestically available tallow (because of condemnation) and increased the use of other lipids in place of animal fats. 

Industrywide definitions for feed fats products are still being developed. USDA and NRA definitions of rendering and tallows and greases were already discussed. 

The major use of rendered fats is in the production of tallow soaps and in the area of fat hydrolysis, sphtting triglycerides into fatty acids, and byproduct glycerine. As the soap-making industry grew and became more refined, the quality standards and specifications for animal fat became more precise to meet the soap industry s need. The specihcations and terminology, from the soap industry, form the basis for the quality standards and characteristics used today. 

Rendered animal fats are commodities and compete with other fats and oils on the world market. A comparison of some of these products is shown in Figure 13. In this figure, the fish oil price is for crude oil any origin cost + insurance - - freight (GIF) N.W. Europe, the lard is EU unrefined 0.5%, the tallow is U.S. bleachable fancy, GIF Rotterdam, and the pahn oil is crude oil GIF N.W. Europe (3). 

Methyl esters of rendered fats have many important uses as industrial chemicals. Methyl esters of hydrogenated tallow are also known as methyl stearate because of the high stearic content. A similar product is known as hydrogenated methyl tallo-wate. In this case, the tallow is methylated first, and then hydrogenated. Except for fractionation steps, these products exhibit identical fatty acid profiles, which qualify... 

Co-product live weight for meat, hide, tallow, renderables... 

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