Saudi Gazette report

MAKKAH — Saudi Arabia’s Project for the Utilization of Sacrificial Meat (Hady & Adahi) continued to adopt highly advanced technologies with the passing of every annual Hajj pilgrimage season.

The freeze drying technology was used to freeze sacrificial meat instantly and thus maintain its superior quality for the first time during this year’s Hajj season. The project is managed by the Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank.

Under the technology, known as “quick freeze drying,” freezing of sacrificial meat took place within a period not exceeding 45 minutes after slaughtering of sacrificial animals. This was followed by processing in terms of cutting, packaging and then moving to the final phase by transferring it to the containers designated for its preservation.

The preservation has been designed with special specifications to freeze drying them using the dry ice technology inside, which helps in preserving the sacrificial meat before distribution by means of the transport fleet designated for this, especially shipment to the poor Muslims in countries, mainly in the Asian and African continents.

The idea of freeze drying technology was adopted during the year 2019 under an initiative of Saudi Arabia’s social responsibility programs to benefit from the carbon waste of factories and reduce their emissions, through dry ice production processes. The new technology has been instrumental in the dispatch of sacrificial meat to its beneficiaries in the shortest period of time with maintaining high quality and standard. Earlier, it took up to 24 hours to complete the process of freezing in a cooling temperature reached minus 20 degrees Celsius.

The new freezing technology will be used to freeze a quarter of a million sacrificial animals in every Hajj season over the coming years so as to preserve the quality and standard, according to sources.