Development of an Objective Method to Perform Quality Classification of Comminuted Poultry Meat

Deboning of meat is an important technology to improve yield and sustainability of meat production. Mechanically separated meat (MSM) is generally considered to be of inferior quality, and its use is subject to strict regulations. Manually deboned meat is accepted as regular meat, and not subjected to the same restrictions. Today, the development of the technology for mechanical meat-bone separation enables production of a meat raw material that cannot be distinguished from regular meat mince. MACSYS is a Seventh Framework Programme granted under the theme Research for the benefit of SME ́s. The overall objective is to overcome scientific and technical barriers associated with the development of efficient and objective solutions for the quality classification of comminuted poultry meat. Therefore, the project focuses on new, efficient and objective solutions through collaboration between 4 RTD, 4 SME and 1 end-user partners. The expected outcome of the project is a fast-track equipment for at-line meat quality classification and an automated image analysis software for assessment of muscle fibre degradation, based on a commonly accepted histochemical method.