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Fresh surface color of beef remains a focus for consumers at the time of purchasing in the retail sector. The objective of this study was to evaluate instrumental surface color, expert color evaluation, and lipid oxidation (TBARS) on beef longissimus lumborum steaks packaged using recycle-ready film (RRF) or polyvinyl chloride overwrap (PVC). Paired strip loins (IMPS # 180), fabricated from beef carcasses (n = 7) 10 d postmortem, cut into 2.54 cm-thick steaks, and assigned to one of two packaging treatments RRF (OTR = 0.8 cc/m2/24 h) or PVC (OTR = 14,000 cc/m2/24 h). Steaks were stored under simulated retail conditions (3 °C ± 1.5 °C) in a LED (2297 lux) lighted, three-tiered retail cabinet, rotated daily among shelves for 35 days. From d 0 to 35 objective surface color was captured every 5 days to record changes in lightness (L*), redness (a*), yellowness (b*), Chroma, Hue Angle, and calculated values of spectral wavelengths (Red to Brown, Oxymyoglobin, Deoxymyoglobin, & Metmyoglobin) using a HunterLab colorimeter. Steaks packaged in RRF became lighter (L*) as display period increased (P < 0.05), whereas steaks packaged in PVC became darker (P < 0.05). Redness (a*) values were greatest (P < 0.05) for PVC steaks until day 5, whereas RRF steaks had greater (P < 0.05) surface redness from day 10 to 35 of the display period. Calculated spectral values red to brown were greater (P < 0.05) for steaks in RRF than PVC. Expert color evaluators rated RRF steaks having less browning and less discoloration (P < 0.05) from day 5 to 35 of display. Lipid oxidation was greater (P < 0.05) for PVC steaks from day 10 through day 35 of the display. These results suggest that the use of RRF vacuum packaging for beef steaks is plausible and can maintain surface color characteristics during extended display periods.

With meat industry efforts focused on improving environmental influencers, adopting alternative packaging films may allow the meat industry to address the sustainability demands of the consumer. The current study evaluated instrumental surface color changes on fresh ground beef using vacuum packaging films identified as recycle ready (RRF), standard barrier (STB) and enhanced barrier (ENB). Coarse ground beef (80:20) was purchased from a commercial processing facility, ground once through a 3.18 mm plate and portioned into 454 g bricks. Ground beef bricks were allocated randomly to one of three packaging treatments (n = 25 packages/treatment), placed into a form and fill pouch, vacuum sealed, and displayed in a three-tiered retail display cabinet (3 °C ± 1.5 °C) for a 21-day simulated retail display period. Ground beef packages were rotated daily for the duration of the 21-d study among all shelves of the display cabinet. On each day of the display period, packages were scanned three times with a hand-held colorimeter (HunterLab) to capture instrumental color readings for lightness (L*), redness (a*), yellowness (b*), Hue angle, Chroma, and spectral wavelength values (400 to 700nm) to calculate relative values of Red:Brown (630:580nm), deoxymyoglobin (DEO), oxymyoglobin (OXY), and metmyoglobin (MET). Calculations of relative myoglobin forms were completed using the log of the reflectance values at 473, 525, 572, and 700nm respectively. Ground beef packaged using ENB barrier film was lighter (L*), redder (a*) and more vivid (Chroma) than all other packaging treatments during the simulated display period (P < 0.05). By day 12 of the simulated retail display, ground beef surface color became lighter (L*), more yellow (b*), less red (a*), less vivid (chroma) and contained greater forms of calculated metmyoglobin, oxymyoglobin (P < 0.05). These results suggest that vacuum packaging of ground beef remains a plausible option for extending surface color during fresh shelf-life conditions.

Hempseed meal is byproduct of hemp oil production and is relatively high in fiber, fat, and protein, making it a potential feedstuff for ruminants. However, the impact this new byproduct could have on meat characteristics is unknown. The objective of the current study was to evaluate the impact of HSM on fresh and cooked characteristics of Spanish meat goat retail cuts. Forty Boer crossbred castrated male goats were randomly allocated to one of four diets (n = 10; 0, 10, 20 or 30%) containing HSM which originated from the manufacturing industry of hemp oil. Goats were provided 2 kg of diet daily that contained varying levels of HSM in addition to ad-libitum access to water throughout the study. Following a 60-day feeding period goats were harvested at the Lambert-Powell Meats Laboratory located at Auburn University. After chilling for 12 h at 0°C, carcass measurements were collected prior to carcass fabrication. Goat carcasses were fabricated into wholesale cuts of the shoulder, rack, loin and leg. Paired loins and legs were sliced into 2.54-cm-thick chops, vacuum packaged, and assigned to cook yield, instrumental fresh color, and instrumental tenderness and frozen at -23°C until all laboratory analysis could be completed. The use of HSM did not alter cooking yield in either the goat loin or leg chop (P > 0.05) regardless of inclusion percentage within the diet. Furthermore, Warner-Bratzler shear force (WBSF) did not differ (P > 0.05) with increasing inclusion rates of HSM for either the loin or leg chops. Instrumental color for lightness (L*) or yellowness (b*) did not differ (P > 0.05) across diet treatments for either the loin or leg chops. These findings suggest that the inclusion of HSM within the diet of Boer cross goats did not alter fresh or cooked meat characteristics in either the loin or leg chops.

Fresh beef storage in the retail setting can be presented in a variety of packaging methods, and identifying an alternative such as vacuum packaging to current traditional methods could potentially increase shelf life and reduce meat waste. The objective of this study was to identify the influence of packaging film and lean trimming sources on fresh ground beef surface color during a simulated retail display period. There were no differences (p &gt, 0.05) in surface color redness (a*), yellowness (b*), chroma, or hue angle regardless of packaging film or lean trimmings. However, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) were greater (p &lt, 0.05) for packages containing a greater percentage of CULL beef trimmings regardless of packaging film. In addition, pH values of ground beef packages did not differ (p &gt, 0.05) among packaging film or lean trimming blends. Visual color did not differ (p &gt, 0.05) throughout the simulated retail display period regardless of beef trimmings or packaging film. Microbial spoilage organisms were greater (p &lt, 0.05) after the simulated display period. These results suggest that ground beef presented in a simulated retail setting using an alternative packaging platform, such as vacuum packaging, is plausible.

The objective of this study was to validate the shelf-life of marinated and frozen chicken tenderloins. Treatments were randomly assigned to the age of the tenderloins post-harvest, days aged (DA): DA4, DA5, DA6, DA7, and DA8. Microbial analyses were used to analyze the growth of aerobic, psychotropic, and lactobacilli bacteria to assess the shelf-life of bulk-packaged chicken tenderloins. Tenderloins were sampled fresh, then vacuum tumbled in a marinade. After marination, the tenderloins were sampled with the remaining tenderloins packaged and frozen (−25 °C). After freezing the chicken tenderloins were slacked in a refrigerated cooler (2.2 °C) for up to 132 h (h) and sampled at 36 h, then every 24 h following. After marination, each treatment significantly (p &lt, 0.05) decreased in aerobic and psychotropic counts except DA4. During slacking, no treatment crossed the threshold of 106 CFU/mL (Log 6) set for this study. Though none crossed the threshold, treatments DA4, DA5, and DA6 had significant (p &lt, 0.05) increases in aerobic bacteria after 7 days of age. The psychotropic bacteria continuously grew at each sampling period, with DA4 and DA5 surpassing the other treatments (p &lt, 0.05) at 108 h and 132 h reaching 105 CFU/mL. Every treatment remained below the spoilage threshold, suggesting that this method of storage is suitable for chicken tenderloin shelf-life.

Bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV) is a pestivirus that is enzootic in most cattle populations throughout the world. This virus is present throughout the body of persistently infected (PI) cattle. Previous research has not assessed the cooking temperature at which BVDV in meat from PI cattle can be inactivated. Therefore, muscle tissue from 6 PI cattle was harvested, refrigerated, frozen, and heated to various internal temperatures. The concentration of virus present was determined by virus isolation. Average cell culture infective doses (50% endpoint; CCID(50)) of BVDV per gram of frozen, uncooked meat from PI cattle were 10(5.85) CCID(50)/g of whole cuts and 10(6.02) CCID(50)/g of ground meat. The virus in whole and ground meat was consistently inactivated when cooked to temperatures greater than or equal to 75°C. A second objective of this research was to thoroughly reassess if Vero cells were permissive to BVDV infection in our laboratory to provide further indication of whether primates, including humans, might be susceptible to BVDV. Vero cells were not permissive to infection with any of 43 different strains of BVDV that readily replicated in Madin Darby bovine kidney cells. In conclusion, this bovine pathogen, which is not considered to be a human pathogen, can be inactivated by cooking ground or whole cuts of meat to 75°C or higher. Care should be taken to ensure that susceptible hosts such as pigs are not fed improperly cooked meat, meat by-products, or waste food originating from PI cattle.

Duroc-cross pigs (n = 25) were assigned to one of three experimental finishing diets containing 0 (control), 40,000 (40), or 80,000 (80) IU of supplemental vitamin D3/kg of feed (as-fed basis)to test the effects of vitamin D3 on pork quality traits. Experimental diets were fed for 44 or 51 d before slaughter, and days on feed were blocked in the experimental design. A trend existed for pigs receiving the highest concentration of vitamin D3 supplementation to have a lower (P = 0.08) ADG (0.77 kg/d) compared with pigs fed either the 40-diet (0.88 kg/d) or control (0.92 kg/d). Diet did not (P > 0.10) affect backfat thickness measured along the midline, 10th-rib fat depth, longissimus muscle area, muscle score, or hot carcass weights. Longissimus pH, measured at 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 24 h postmortem, was higher (P 0.10) effect on Warner-Bratzler shear force values; percentage of cook loss; or trained sensory panel evaluations for tenderness, juiciness, and flavor. Feeding the 80-diet increased (P 0.30) affected by diet. These results indicate that feeding supranutritional levels of vitamin D3 for at least 44 d improves pork color and increases pH, but may retard growth if fed at 80,000 IU/kg of feed.