Meat+Poultry - April 2019 - 47

poultry to be light or dark pink."
Lamb is a darker cherry-red than beef,
while raw pork has a grayish-pink hue. Raw
whole muscle poultry can vary from a bluish
white to yellow, with a hint of pink, with color
closely associated with the bird's diet.
"Any variation from these colors deters the
consumer from buying the product," King says.
"Therefore, it is imperative for manufacturers
to prevent color loss in their meat and poultry
products in order to keep consumers coming
back for more."
Ron Ratz, senior vice president of Wixon
says, "Preserving color is vital to processors as
it's a point of brand differentiation, especially
in the retail sector."
With so many products to choose from,
appearance, and of course price, are serious
purchase considerations. In fact, according to
the 2018 Power of Meat study, price-per-pound
has the highest influence on the ultimate meat
and poultry purchase. Only appearance comes
close to the importance of price.
"While meat coloration gets consumers to
initially purchase a product, the consistency
and stability of the product's color is essential
to category leaders whose customers
expect the same product from purchase to
purchase," says Zak Otto, senior research and
development manager at Wixon.
Austin Lowder, applications scientist with
St. Louis-based DuPont Nutrition & Health,
says, "The shelf life of a meat product, whether
fresh or cooked, can be extended by delaying
discoloration, thereby reducing the number of
markdowns, consumer complaints and product
returns to the processor.
"All classes of retail and foodservice meat
products can suffer from discoloration to some
degree," Lowder adds. "The highest impact
area for color stability, however, is in fresh red
meats, especially ground beef."

THE SCIENCE OF RED COLOR
The reddish-pinkish color associated with
most product is formed when myoglobin in
the meat is exposed to oxygen. This converts
the myoglobin (blue) to oxymyoglobin (red).
Think how enclosed veins are blue and
exposed blood is red. Different species of meat
have different concentrations of myoglobin
in their blood, which is why there are varying
intensities of red in meat.

Beef, for example, has
about four times as much
myoglobin as pork. With
poultry, the white meat is
virtually void of myoglobin
while dark meat gets its name because of its
myoglobin content.
"The color of meat is determined by the
ratios of the forms in which myoglobin can
be present," King says. "Stable oxymyoglobin
imparts the bright red color that is considered
a mark of freshness, and is formed and
maintained in an oxygen-rich environment.
Over time, the continuous oxidation transforms
the myoglobin into metmyoglobin, imparting a
brown color, a cue to consumers that the meat
is no longer fresh."
Fresh beef, because of its high
concentration of myoglobin, may show
a greater observable difference between
oxymyoglobin and oxidized metmyoglobin.
Ground beef, as is, or formed into patties,
is even more susceptible to discoloration.
When flavorful ingredients are added to
make gourmet burgers, discoloration
risk increases.
"The process of grinding introduces oxygen
throughout the product," King says. "Inclusions
such as cheese, bacon, visible dried or fresh
herbs and spices, bring additional complexity
and pro-oxidants into the system.
"Pork sausages, especially fresh dinner
sausage and breakfast sausage marketed
in clear film with view of the product, are
especially susceptible to discoloration because
of exposure to light," King says. "Also, many of
these products are frozen during distribution.
This may further contribute to oxidation."
Alessandra Pham-Mondala, lead scientist
with Kalsec, based in Kalamazoo, Michigan,

Beef has four times as much
myoglobin as pork which
is why the color of the beef
is more reddish than pork.

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