Improving beef meat colour scores at carcass grading

Abstract

Unacceptable meat colour scores at the time of carcass grading are associated with reduced meat quality and consumer rejection. We hypothesised that the meat colour at carcass grading would be influenced by the pH and temperature decline post slaughter, as these would be determined by animal and processing factors. Beef carcasses (n ≤ 1512) at seven Australian processing plants were assessed, at grading, for the meat colour of the M. longissimus thoracis. Statistical modelling determined the animal, carcass and processing factors contributing to the meat colour score at carcass grading. The occurrence of unacceptably dark meat dropped from 8 to 3% when the time of grading was increased from ..