Critical control points affecting the palatability of Irish beef

2006

YEAR BOOK

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Teagasc, Ashtown Food Research Centre

Karen Brandon

Critical control points affecting the palatability of Irish beef

The palatability of beef constitutes three main characteristics: flavour, juiciness and most important of all, tenderness. Palatability of beef is a function of production, processing and cooking methods used to prepare beef for consumption. In the USA, recent surveys have identified that consumers have difficulty in selecting beef because they are unsure of its quality, particularly its tenderness.

Meat Standards Australia (MSA) has spent a number of years developing a new grading system to overcome this problem. Consumer taste panels were developed to give a detailed understanding of factors which interact to determine the eating quality of individual beef cuts. The model was developed using a multiple regression approach whereby input variables from the production, processing and value adding sectors were included in a model to predict palatability of individual muscles for a range of cooking techniques. 60,000 consumers have contributed to its building through assessment of these 400,000 samples.

Therefore, the objective of this project is to develop a Palatability Assurance Critical Control Point (PACCP) plan for the Irish beef industry taking on board what is already known, testing some emerging issues and embracing new technologies which may contribute to the development of an Irish PACCP system. A set of guidelines will be established for the processing industry to ensure that beef products will be highly palatable. This will be achieved by the establishment of a grading system similar to the system developed by MSA.

The MSA model has been made available to Teagasc, Ashtown. Work has begun on creating a baseline of the palatability of Irish beef under normal processing conditions. The ability of the MSA model to predict beef palatability under Irish conditions will be evaluated. Parameters of importance within the Irish beef production and processing industries will be inputted. Sensory trials of a large number of consumers (3000) will be used to test the model. Further critical control points will be introduced as the project proceeds. Research at pilot scale level will also investigate different aspects of technology which may be included in the final PACCP plan.

This research program at Teagasc, Ashtown Food Research Centre, in collaboration with UCC is funded by the Department of Agriculture and Food under the FIRM programme as part of the National Development Plan 2000-2006.

Contact: Ms Karen Brandon,
Teagasc, Ashtown Food Research Centre, Dublin 15.
Tel: 01-8059500, Fax 01 8059550,
E-mail: [email protected] .