Meat Quality & Nutrition

Meat quality and consistency are two considerations that people look for if they are meat eaters. The taste of the meat can be affected by where the meat comes from, that is the type of animal and its breed; how the animal is cared for while growing to maturity; and how it is handled when being taken to market.

Scientists have created meat quality ratings. Meat quality is considered on the basis of:

• • the ratio of fat to the muscle tissue
  • Visual appearance,
  • Smell,
  • Firmness,
  • Juiciness,
  • Tenderness, and
  • Flavour

A relatively new system1 for the grading of beef is based on

• • Colour
  • Marbling (how much fat is distributed between the muscle,
  • Fat depth,
  • Carcass weight,
  • Maturity, and
  • PH (high PH is undesirable resulting from bacterial growth in the meat)

Perhaps you can see the difference in the marbling visible in the photo.