THE CHALLENGES OF IMPROVING MEAT QUALITY

Abstract

The most urgent challenge to improve meat quality in Canada at the present time is to attack the many causes of meat quality spoilage which exist in production, transport and slaughter methods. These factors operate through muscle metabolism. Rapid production of large amounts of lactate after slaughter causes pale meat with a high water loss. Inadequate lactate formation causes dark meat which appears dry because its water is tightly bound. These conditions are related to animal stress due to poor husbandry, transport and slaughter methods, but the susceptibility to stress is heritable. Key words: Meat quality, postmortem metabolism, muscle structure