an apparatus and method for non - invasive lean recovery from a sparse lean product or other animal muscle trimming , which can include conveying ground sparse lean through a conveyance channel where the conveyance channel extends along a path that extends through a scanning position adjacent a scanner . the process includes scanning along a predetermined length with the scanner the ground sparse lean product traveling through the conveyance channel and further analyzing the scan and determining the percent fat content for each ground sparse lean product segment which is defined by the predetermined length of the ground sparse lean product within the volume of the conveyance channel and the cross section areas of the conveyance channel . the process can further include directing each ground sparse lean product segment down one of a plurality of processing paths corresponding to the one defined fat content range in which the corresponding percent fat content falls .