Fuente: WIPO "meat" A sausage filling apparatus comprises a conventional sausage filling machine (10) operable to extrude sausage meat into a compressed length of tubular sausage casing (21) retained over a support pipe (18) through which the meat is fed under pressure. The filled casing (35) passes to a sausage linking machine (12) where the casing is twisted into individually-linked sausages. The invention provides a moveable deflector plate (56) which is moveable into the path of the tubular sausage casing (35) between the nozzle and the linking machine. This causes the sausage casing to follow a tortuous path between these two points, dispelling air present in the casing and leading to more consistent weight and an improved appearance in the final product.