What is CMS?
CMS is an abbreviation to designate the Mechanically Separated Meat.
What is MECHANICALLY SEPARATED MEAT?
You know that meat that gets stuck in the bones and cartilage of the cuts of meat that we clean at home and can't remove? This is what the industrial process removes and calls Mechanically Separated Meat from poultry, beef and pork. It is a way of making the most of the carcass of animals. Although it is a safe product for consumption, it is a source of low-quality protein, and according to legislation, it can contain only 12% of protein. In terms of fat, it is quite rich, and can contain up to 30%. Since it is composed of pressed carcass, it has a lot of calcium, which is not bad at all. However, because it contains little protein, sausages made with CMS need to compensate by adding stabilizing food additives, emulsifiers and vegetable proteins. In addition to compensating for the lack of protein, the additives also cause weight gain in water. Products that contain CMS are generally of low quality. Analyze the ingredients of the products and give preference to those that do not have CMS in their composition.
A Mechanically Separated Meat It has been used since 1950, mainly in canned and processed foods such as sausages and mortadella. In the past, there was no distinction between a whole piece of meat and cms, so there was no way of knowing whether a product contained it or not. Nowadays, products must inform whether they contain Mechanically Separated Meat in their composition.
Some types of sausage are, by law, exempt from CMS. To better understand how the legislation specifically governs the composition of sausages, read the post What is sausage made of?
The video below shows equipment extracting meat from the carcass and producing mechanically separated meat.
What products have Mechanically Separated Meat?
The products that make the most use of mechanically separated meat are large-scale industrial products such as nuggets, breaded chicken steak, sausage, calabresa sausage, Portuguese sausage, ham, ham, mortadella (except Bologna) among others.
Read the label and always give preference to those that do not have Mechanically Separated Meat in their composition.
See below some points on how Brazilian legislation regulates Mechanically Separated Meat.
Definition: Mechanically Separated Meat (MSM) is understood as meat obtained through a mechanical process of grinding and separating the bones of butchered animals, intended for the production of specific meat products.
Designation: (Sales Name): The product will be called Mechanically Separated Meat (CMS), followed by the name of the animal species that characterizes it.
Example:
Mechanically Separated Poultry Meat
Mechanically Separated Beef
Mechanically Separated Pork Meat
Composition: only bones, carcasses or parts of carcasses of butchered animals (Poultry, Cattle and Pigs) that have been approved for human consumption by the SIF (Federal Inspection Service) will be used. Heads, feet and paws may not be used.
Mechanical Separation Process: The mechanical separation process will be carried out in such a way that bones, carcasses and carcass parts do not accumulate in the separation room. The mechanically separated meat must be immediately refrigerated or frozen. The mechanical separation room must be exclusively for this purpose. The temperature of the room must not exceed +10ºC.
Physicochemical Characteristics
Protein (Minimum): 12%
Fat (Max): 30%
Calcium Content (Max): 1.5% (Dry Basis)
See the full normative instruction below.
English 
Português do Brasil
Hi good evening, I have a question about which organs and meats are ground in the CMS? And before going through this whole process, is all the blood remaining in these organs removed? Please answer me!!
The carcasses with the meat left over from the deboning are ground, with the organs removed. Most of the blood has already been removed, but there is no way to remove 100%, as the meat itself contains blood internally.
But isn't the blood removed during slaughter through bleeding?
The blood runs through the entire circulatory system and feeds the cells, including the muscle cells, so the blood is very widespread, infiltrated by the tissues.
Got it, thanks.
Good morning,
I live in South Africa and am looking for CMR to be exported here. Any possibility?
Hi Carolina, I can't tell you, we don't work with CMS.
I work with machines that extract CMR (mechanically recovered meat) which increases the percentage of protein in the raw material to 16.9. I am the Account Manager for Baader Machines in Brazil, it is a much better product than CMS. Watch the videos on You Tube “Luciano Smanioto CMR Baader”
Our machines separate the skin, cartilage, bones, so it is a much better product.
(42) 9 9927-6091