Quality Assessment Instrumentation for the Pork Industry

The quality of fresh pork will have many definitions in today s world market-place. Like beauty, quality is most definitely in the eye of the beholder or, more specifically, the eye of the customer. In a paper reviewing pork quality and the requirements of consumers, Kortz (2003) identified five pork quality traits in the literature (Andersen, 2000). The first, consumption quality, is associated with the appearance, flavor, tenderness, and juiciness of pork. Next is nutritional quality, which relates to the protein, fat, vitamin, and mineral content of pork. The digestibility of the particular pork product was also identified as a component of nutritional quality. Technological quality is likely the trait that we are most familiar with as meat scientists. Technological quality includes all the standards such as water-holding capacity, pH, protein and lipid status, connective tissue, etc. Hygienic quality may top the list of many consumers of pork and is relative to risk of microbial contamination, presence of harmful substance residues, and pollutants. The last trait that Andersen (2000) identified is a definition of quality that has grown in acceptance in recent years; ethical quality. The attributes of ethical quality pertain to organic farming, religion, production environment (outdoor production), and swine welfare. Identification of markets willing to pay for these or other definitions of pork quality constitutes a value-added opportunity for the pork production chain.