Integrated technologies to enhance meat quality - An Australasian perspective.

Ensuring meat quality attributes meet the requirements of the diverse range of markets is a critical component for the continued success of the New Zealand and Australian meat industries. Developing cost-effective and flexible technologies to help meet this requirement is a central objective of a current Meat and Wool New Zealand and Meat and Livestock Australia funded programme. This initiative was developed three years ago; it is a collaborative programme that involves meat scientists, electrical engineers and commercial meat processors. To ensure this programme successfully delivers technologies and knowledge to the Australasian meat industry, the following strategies have been developed: measurement of meat quality attributes 'on-line' during processing; development of 'expert systems' that can integrate and interpret on-line measurements and development of quality-related feedback systems from the market that can be fed back to producers; and, development of methods to manipulate structural and biochemical events in meat to create new commercial opportunities for both producers and processors. This paper gives an overview of some of the new technologies that have developed from this programme that are being used commercially or, are undergoing the final stages of commercial validation.