AbstractMechanical deboning is a technology that allows red meat packers and processors to recover fragments of meat that are left on the bones of carcasses after hand trimming. The economic impact of alternative public policies, ranging from a ban on the use of mechanically deboned meat to a free market approach, is analyzed with a simultaneous equations supply‐demand model of the markets for table and processed beef and pork. The results indicate that the loss in economic welfare to society, as well as the price and quantity effects associated with present restrictions, are not insignificant.