LACOMBE, Alta. – For almost 20 years, Agriculture Canada scientists at Lacombe have subjected steaks and pork chops to a battery of tests that probe and poke every square inch of the meat.
They’ve chilled it, cooked it, tasted it and spoiled it to find the safest way to handle meat that ensures food safety and good eating.
Gordon Greer, one of the scientists involved in these studies, wants to know what is going into an average retail meat display case. He monitors the number and type of bacteria present, how they affect color, odor and how long meat can remain in storage.
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The news is not always good.
Ongoing studies at Lacombe show temperatures in a meat case range from 0 to 12 C. The ideal is about 4 C.
“There is a very broad range of temperature,” he said.
“In reality with the design of these cases, none of these cases can maintain the proper temperature.”
In 1993, Agriculture Canada scientists visited a number of central Alberta grocery stores to measure meat case temperature changes, color and odor of meat. Conditions and temperatures varied.
Meat case study
This year, a national study of retail meat cases has been approved to see if the same circumstances exist.
Several factors cause temperature variation. The average retail meat case is an open system where cool air blows from the back of the case to the front. The air at the back is cold and warms as it blows across the surface.
Lighting can also heat up a meat case. In addition, the cases defrost every 12 hours and may reach a temperature of 20 C at certain times.
Another problem is that when meat is stacked above a designated load line, it does not get the full benefit of cool air.
One solution is to cover the cabinet, but that makes it harder for customers to serve themselves.
At Lacombe, scientists insert special thermometers into samples to measure internal temperature of the meat in a case. The information is fed into a computer and helps predict the incidence of bacterial growth.
Researchers know how different kinds of bacteria grow under varying conditions. They are particularly interested in spoilage bacteria and how the color and odor of the meat changes over time.
The shelf life of an average pork chop is two to three days before it starts to turn color. Odors develop within three days.
Professional sniffers check the odor of meat samples, which adds to researchers’ knowledge about shelf life and when the product is unacceptable to consumers.
Bacteria that produces the odor in meat generates a sulfur compound that causes a bad smell. If the package of meat does not smell right, it probably has gone off.”You should trust your senses,” said Greer.
