Impact of introducing specifications on the tenderness of retail meat

Over a 3-year period (1997-1999), the shear force of 4371 retail beef, lamb and pork midloin samples collected from 363 retail outlets were tested usi ng a MIRINZ tenderometer. Information about aging time, processor and retai l chain was recorded. Consumers (n=2313) were also surveyed on their percep tion of the tenderness of beef and lamb midloin samples with known shear fo rce. The results validated that shear force, as measured by the MIRINZ tend erometer, could be used to create instrumental tenderness categories which reflected consumer perceptions of tenderness. Over the 3-year sampling peri od, the shear force of beef and lamb decreased by 21.9 and 17.2%, respectiv ely, and there was a consistent decrease in the number of 'tough' samples. The improvement in tenderness coincided with the introduction of a Quality Mark program in 1997 for beef and lamb and 3 years of implementation by aud iting. The Quality Mark program sets specifications for the quality of reta il meat in New Zealand and guidelines to achieve these specifications. In c omparison to retail beef and lamb, the shear force of retail pork decreased marginally by 7.9%. Furthermore, the decrease in the number of 'tough' por k samples was not consistent over the testing period. Analysis of these dat a showed that for all three meats a considerable improvement in tenderness can be achieved by adopting a minimum post-slaughter aging time and optimiz ing the processing conditions. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights re served.