Consumer response to red meat—implementing strategies during animal production or postmortem processing to improve eating quality

Meat eating quality characteristics are largely dependent on the biology of living muscle in livestock, which is regulated by genetics and the environment (nutrition, production system, etc.). Animal age is also considered a significant contributor to eating quality. Beef, lamb, and pork all utilize grading systems, but those systems vary between species, from country to country, and in the ultimate goal of the grade—prediction of eating quality or cutability. After the conversion of muscle to meat, several postmortem technologies can be employed to improve eating quality. These include postmortem aging, enhancement, cooking, and packaging. These antemortem and postmortem factors will be discussed as they pertain to the eating quality of beef, lamb, and pork.