The estimated accuracy of the EU reference dissection method for pig carcass classification.

This experiment was designed to describe the accuracy of the EU-reference dissection method, and to describe the types of factors influencing the accuracy and assess their size. The experiment was conducted in four different European countries at two abattoirs within each country. A total of 128 carcasses was selected according to carcass weight, fat class and sex, and 8 butchers from different countries dissected the carcasses. Due to the experimental design of the experiment a variation in pig type was found between countries. The accuracy was expressed by the repeatability and reproducibility standard deviation, which were found to be 0.87 and 1.10, respectively, and by the reliability, found to be 0.87. This indicates a high accuracy, although a significant effect was found on the estimation of lean meat percentage (LMP) of butcher, and also that jointing of the carcass was of overall importance to the accuracy of the EU-reference dissection method.