PRE-SLAUGHTER HANDLING OF REINDEER - EFFECTS ON MEAT QUALITY

The centralization of the slaughter industry has created one of the bi ggest problems for beef quality, namely dark-cutting or DFD. After stu dying the various handling routines and their effects on meat quality, it was found possible, by applying simple and clearcut rules, to mini mize the DFD frequency in beef, We then started to scrutinize the slau ghter procedure for reindeer, as we realized that new directives in Sw eden would lead to centralization of the slaughter industry. Before th e new directives were introduced we obtained sufficient funding to set up a four-year research project dealing with old and new slaughter ha ndling procedures for reindeer and their effects on meat quality. The overall objective was to devise simple and effective rules for the han dling of slaughter reindeer in order to avoid meat quality deteriorati on. Various preslaughter handling routines for reindeer, such as gathe ring and herding, selection, feeding, road transport and lairage, impl y stressful events which can affect glycogen stores in muscle and henc e meat quality. During a 3 day helicopter drive (20 km/day), we found no negative effects on glycogen stoves or ultimate pH values. Lorry tr ansport of reindeer over various distances (0 up to 1000 km) did not c ause any increase in ultimate pH values in bulls and calves, though co ws did show a slight increase in pH. A 2-day, pre-slaughter waiting pe riod at a slaughterhouse, where the reindeer were fed hay and water, c aused no deleterious effects on muscle glycogen content ol pH. Sorting out reindeer by use of the traditional lasso technique, however, seem s to be the only handling procedure so far studied causing considerabl e physical and mental stress leading to muscle glycogen depletion and dark-cutting. The effects of various handling procedures are very much dependent on the physical condition of the animals. From our studies we can conclude that feeding has a major influence on physical conditi on, muscle glycogen content and hence meat quality. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd