Achieving Export Quality Pork

Transcription

1 Achieving Export Quality Pork Heather L. Bruce Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2P5; Introduction The Canadian pork industry has come to rely upon exports to maintain economic stability of its domestic market, with over 60% of its production exported (Proctor 2010). As the size of the Canadian pork industry has increased, so to have the numbers of pigs exported live, and slaughter processed domestically (Anonymous 2008). Pork exports alone have increased steadily from about 400,000 tonnes in 1998 to approximately 1,000,000 tonnes in 2005 (Anonymous 2008), with most pork being exported to the United States (US) and Japan. As a result, the specifications for Canadian export pork are designed primarily for those two major trading partners, and production is tailored to meet or exceed these specifications. These specifications, however, may not meet those of other potential export trade partners, and they may not differentiate Canadian pork from that supplied by other countries to the US and Japan. So when we say we want to achieve export quality pork, what is meant by this? What do we really want to do? What is Pork Quality? As we know from the differences in specifications for pork destined for US and Japan, pork quality can encompass many different characteristics. For some markets, product safety is key, with concerns about drug residues or genetic status of feedstuffs fed to the pigs paramount. Product flavour or healthfulness may also be issues, and so fat content of the pork may be a key specification as well. For many markets, however, product safety is the minimum market specification and it is expected and not negotiable. What then adds value to the product above safety is the eating quality, value for money and lifestyle perceptions of the product. Advances in Pork Production (2011) Volume 22, pg. 65

2 66 Bruce Eating quality of meat is usually defined by the tenderness, juiciness, and flavour of the cooked product. Most pork is chosen and purchased in the raw state, and so the characteristics most frequently cited by consumers as important indicators of pork quality are colour, fat cover, marbling (intramuscular fat) and drip (Ngapo et al. 2004) (Table 1). In the 1950 s and 1960 s, pork consumers in the US and Canada preferred pork with little or no fat and they did not know how to estimate pork eating quality in the raw product (O Mahony et al. 1995). In Ireland, where pork is the most consumed meat (McCarthy et al. 2004), tenderness, flavour and eating enjoyment were the most important factors determining product acceptability (McCarthy et al. 2004; O Mahony et al. 1995) and the lack of drip in the package was the most important factor at purchase (Ngapo et al. 2007). The second most important factor determining pork acceptability in Ireland was that it was considered safer to eat than chicken (McCarthy et al. 2004; O Mahony et al. 1995). In 1995, pork was also considered good value for money in Ireland (O Mahony et al. 1995), but by 2004, value for money was the least important factor determining pork acceptability and it was superseded by health consciousness and animal welfare (McCarthy et al. 2004). In Australia, which represents about 4% of Canada s export market, consumers are faced with a domestic product that was, as of 2000, obtained from intact male pigs that had high incidence of pale, soft and exudative pork and very low levels of intramuscular fat (< 1%)(D Souza and Mullan 2000). What Australian consumers wanted, however, was lean pork that was tender and juicy with no unpleasant odors (D Souza and Mullan 2000) that was a light colour (Ngapo et al 2007). In France, four clusters of consumers were identified: those that preferred light red, fatty pork; those that chose dark red, marbled pork; those that preferred light red pork without drip; and those that preferred lean pork (Ngapo et al. 2004), indicating that several sets of market specifications can exist within one country. In Belgium, the most important attributes of fresh pork were its taste, freshness, being free of hormones and that it was safe to eat, was lean and was from pigs that were grown and managed with animal welfare in mind (Verbeke and Viaene 1999). Despite the many differences in the definition of quality across countries, there are similarities in consumer preferences of pork appearance at purchase across countries, with colour being the most important, followed by fat cover, drip and marbling (Ngapo et al. 2007). In terms of eating quality, pork flavour was the most important factors affecting pork quality in Denmark, Norway and Sweden (Bryhni et al. 2002; Lind 2007), while tenderness was most important in Ireland (O Mahony et al. 1995). These results indicate that control of these factors will be crucial to developing pork products that are acceptable to consumers in many countries.

3 Achieving Export Quality Pork 67 Table 1. Consumer pork preferences of different countries Country Argentina Australia Belgium Brazil Canada China Finland France Germany Ireland Japan Korea Mexico New Zealand Poland South Africa Taiwan Netherlands USA Yugoslavia Prefers pork that is Light red and low fat Light red, low fat and no marbling Dark red or light red or light red, no drip Light red Low fat Low fat Dark red or light red, low fat Light red, no marbling, no drip Dark red Dark or light red, marbled, no drip Light red, low fat, no drip Light red, low fat Dark red or light red, low fat, no drip Light red, no drip Dark red

4 68 Bruce What can Canada do? Recent research into improving the eating quality of pork in Canada has focused on understanding how the level of intramuscular fat content can be used to simultaneously meet current export needs and increase domestic pork consumption. The inclusion of swine genetics from breeds predisposed to increased marbling, such as the Duroc, has increased the intramuscular fat, or marbling, of pork and increased the fat content of the final cooked product. Increased marbling of pork loin chops provides some improvement in pork tenderness, juiciness and flavour, with consumer perception of oiliness increasing as marbling increased (Brewer et al. 2002; Rincker et al. 2008) but after a minimum level of about 1 to 1.5% fat, further improvement in eating quality is not realized (Fortin et al 2005). Also, marbling in pork is suitable for only some countries, as many countries prefer lean pork that is tender and flavourful (Table 1). Improvements in both tenderness and flavour of lean pork loin occurs during refrigerated, vacuum-packaged ageing post mortem (Ramsay et al. 1973) and through the prevention of pale, soft, exudative pork by removal of the halothane gene from herd genetics (Monin et al. 1999); however, many of these strategies have already been incorporated into export protocols. Pork juiciness and flavour has also been enhanced by the use of sodium tri-polyphosphate and sodium chloride solutions pumped into whole muscle but consumers have expressed concerns about the addition of salt to pork products and can detect a difference in appearance between pumped and not pumped products (Brewer et al. 2002). Conclusion To truly become differentiated on the world pork market, Canada needs to supply a product that is unique to Canada, like Canadian bacon. The point of differentiation is to reach the rarefied status of products that are exported globally but can be produced in only one place. Products like New Zealand lamb, Parma ham, champagne, and Belgian or Swiss chocolates each have specific attributes that are unique to that region. This differentiation then makes the region of origin the benchmark for that type of product against which all others are measured. From the studies reviewed, there were more countries that wanted lean, tender and tasty pork than marbled pork. The Canadian pork industry may benefit from developing such pork by selecting appropriate animal genetics, feedstuffs and carcass management protocols. What constitutes tasty, however, remains to be determined.

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