Methods for separating fat from a material containing fat

A method of reducing the fat content of a material, comprising:

• combining a material comprising a separable fat component with a fluid comprising aqueous carbonic acid, liquid carbon dioxide and water, an aqueous alkaline solution, or an aqueous acid, wherein the density of the fluid is greater than the density of the fat component of the material;
• allowing the fat component from the material to separate from the material and to stratify forming a first stratum in the fluid, thereby leaving a reduced fat component of the material;
• allowing the reduced fat component to stratify forming a second stratum in the fluid;
• and
• collecting the second stratum comprising reduced fat component.

A method for separating fat from a material containing fat, comprising:

• combining a material with a fluid comprising carbonic acid, liquid carbon dioxide and water, water, an alkaline solution or an acid, wherein the material comprises components that comprise predominantly fat and components that comprise predominantly lean beef;
• transferring the material and fluid through a conduit, wherein the conduit comprises more than one outlet located along the length and at a lower section of the conduit;
• allowing the components that comprise predominantly fat to rise in the fluid as the fluid and material are transferred through the conduit;
• and
• removing the components that comprise predominantly lean beef that settle to the bottom of the conduit from the more than one outlet at the lower section of the conduit as the fluid and material are transferred through the conduit, wherein components that are removed from the more than one outlet become higher in fat as the fluid progresses through the conduit.