Extent of dark-cutting in beef carcasses graded Canada B4

In Canada, beef carcasses with subjectively-assessed dark meat colour at the ribeye grading site are downgraded. Thus, the condition of this single muscle reduces the monetary value of the whole carcass. To determine if muscles other than the ribeye are affected on carcasses graded as dark cutting, and if so, to what extent, this study looked at 12 other muscles in the same carcasses, using the ribeye pH to group types of dark cutting carcasses: atypical (pH < 5.8), borderline (5.8 < pH < 6.0), and classic ( pH > 6.0). Moisture loss, colour, and colour stability were tracked over 4 d of retail display. It was found that characteristics of all forequarter muscles in all pH groups were the same as those from normal carcasses and that most of the hindquarter muscles in the atypical group were as colour stable as the same muscles from normal carcasses. This showed that forequarter and hindquarter muscles from dark cutting carcasses were undervalued. A possible way of recovering some value would be to sort the atypical carcasses out from the general group of dark cutting carcasses, based either on pH or on instrumental colour.