Extreme paleness of skinless, boneless chicken breasts sampled from th
e packaging area of a commercial. processing plant was investigated. S
ix hundred fillets were collected during 10 visits to the same process
ing plant and were classified as normal (n = 300) and pale (n = 300) a
ccording to visual assessment by the principal investigator. Color (sp
ectrocolorimetry) and pH of each fillet were measured within 1 h follo
wing collection. Fillets were frozen in liquid nitrogen and pooled sam
ples of pale and normal meat were later analyzed for thiobarbituric ac
id reactive substances (TEARS), percentage moisture, total pigment, my
oglobin, and iron concentrations. Color characteristics (L, a, and b v
alues), pH, total pigment, myoglobin, and iron concentrations were all
found to be significantly different in pale meat when compared with n
ormal chicken breast. The TEARS values and percentage moisture for the
two groups were not different. Analyses of L, a, and b values reveale
d that the L characteristic was a good color indicator that can be use
d to distinguish normal from pale samples, with both high sensitivity
and high specificity. Moisture uptake in postchilled, pale fillets cou
ld not account for the decrease in total pigment concentration and myo
globin content.