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Safety and future development of methods for the evaluation of carcasses

Project

Climate change

This project contributes to the research aim 'Climate Change'. What are the sub-aims? Take a look:
Climate change


Project code: MRI-FL-08-1003
Contract period: 01.01.2001 - 31.12.2021
Purpose of research: Inventory & Assessment

The official meat grades are not only an instrument of the market monitoring, but they are also used as a framework for payment systems on the producer level. The determination of the market value is unavoidably subjected to permanent changes because the market material successively adapts to the respective payment system and loses the differentiation between the different value scales. The project is directed on the preparation of these changes and on the search for new valid parameters of market differentiation. Until now only quantitative parameters (proportion of tissue components and cuts) have been included for pork and beef as well. But in the future, quality and sustainability criteria, e. g. animal welfare indicators based on objective measurements, shall be investigated in order to provide new options for future payment systems. Additional market parameters which are not monitored directly must be estimated by verisimilar calculations. As most statistical data on meat production and consumption refer to slaughter weight, additional data may be extracted if the composition of standard carcasses (mean of the total sample) is known. The institute disposes of large data sets of representative dissection trials which are well suited for the synthetisation of such standard carcasses and for additional calculations. Principally these data are used for the conversion of statistical meat consumption (basis slaughter weight) into human meat consumption (basis without bones, dressing cuts) as well as for the estimation of by-products and offals. Regarding changing commodity flows and limited natural ressources the relevance of those products will increase strongly.

Up to now only the basis of new payment systems in pork was established. These gave rise to a change from the payment according to the official grades (lean content) towards the differentiated evaluation of the carcase according to the meat joint value. The respective methodical basis was investigated in beef, too, but until now the practical realisation is lacking. In future especially for beef it will be more important to come to a more rational basis of the carcase assessment. The calculated data are used in the statistics of the Federal Ministery of Consumer Protection (BMVEL) as well as the ZMP (Zentrale Markt- und Preisberichtsstelle, Bonn) and in publications of professional journals. They are an instrument of the consumer counselling and the ecologic assessment of meat production.

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Subjects

Framework programme

BMEL Frameworkprogramme 2008

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