Reducing the scourge of dark meat post-slaughter

Using high-pressure processing at low temperatures, the colour of unattractive dark meat can be lightened — potentially saving the red meat industry $100 million/year.

Colour is the prime way that consumers ascertain meat quality — and they don’t like dark meat. Interestingly, dark meat can also have a shorter shelf life and an off flavour, and its tenderness can be variable. So if a carcass is a darker colour its value to producers, processors and retailers is significantly less.

On-farm stress and stress during transport are known causes of dark meat, and until now, most efforts in reducing dark meat have concentrated on pre-slaughter conditions and treatment.

However, a team of researchers has looked at post-slaughter ways of improving meat colour with low-temperature, high-pressure processing (HPP) proving to be successful in lightening the colour of high-value primal meat cuts.

The use of low temperature along with the high-pressure processing means that the meat does not develop a ‘cooked-like’ appearance. In fact, the treatment does not confer any adverse effects on the eating quality.

A muscle biochemist at CSIRO Food and Nutrition, Joanne Hughes, has just won the the red meat processing category of the Science and Innovation Awards for Young People in Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry for her work on this project. Sponsored by the Australian Meat Processor Corporation, the award will provide the funding for this project.

Hughes and the team also surveyed a number of meat processors, covering 43% of the total cattle slaughtered, and found that dark meat could be costing the industry up to $500 million per year, or $1000 per animal — much more than previous estimates.

It is hoped that the HPP technology will enable meat processors to reduce carcass downgrading and improve the quality and colour of the meat before it reaches consumers — maximising carcass value for both the producer and processor. Over the next five years, the team aims to reduce this loss by 20% and save the beef meat industry alone up to $100 million per year.

CSIRO has collaborated with Greenleaf Enterprises to develop a cost–benefit model to help processors determine the financial viability of adopting the technology.