INVESTIGATION OF METHODS TO DETECT MECHANICALLY RECOVERED MEAT IN MEAT-PRODUCTS .3. MICROSCOPY

This was a preliminary study to investigate whether hyaline cartilage could be easily identified in mechanically recovered meat (MRM) and wh ether its presence could be used as a possible marker for MRM in meat products. MRMs produced from beef, pork, lamb, chicken and turkey, usi ng a variety of machine types and processing conditions, were compared to both minced and colloid milled hand-deboned samples, using a chemi cal staining technique followed by examination using the light microsc ope. The methodology was tested on various mixtures of MRM and hand-de boned meat. Although this technique, as with most microscopy technique s generally, is not suitable for quantitative determinations, the resu lts indicate that light microscopy could be used as a useful screening method.