Reducing lairage time does not spoil beef quality
Reducing lairage time does not spoil beef quality - Beef CRC - Beef Genetic Technologies
| 8 October 2008 |
 Reducing the time cattle spend in lairage prior to slaughter is unlikely to have a negative impact on tenderness and eating quality of beef cattle.A study conducted by the Beef CRC looked at whether shortening the holding time of cattle from 18 to 3 hours reduces the quality of feedlot cattle. Standard lairage times for slaughter cattle range between 12 and 24 hours. But with abattoirs wanting to increase throughput, some are considering reducing that time. Dr Drewe Ferguson, CSIRO Livestock Industries, Armidale said while this is permissable, questions have been raised over what it does to meat palatability. “The study involved two groups of feedlot cattle. They were all fed together for 150 days on a standard feedlot ration,” Dr Ferguson said. “One group was transported to the abattoir the day before slaughter and held overnight, while the other group remained at the feedlot and was transported to the abattoir the following morning.” Objective meat quality measures were taken on un-aged and 14-day aged striploins. The cattle held for three hours were 2.7 per cent heavier just before slaughter than the cattle held for 18 hours. But there was no difference in the carcass weights between the two treatment groups. “The difference in body weight can probably be attributed to the differences in gut-fill, given that the preslaughter fasting period for the cattle held for 18 hours was considerably longer,” said Dr Ferguson. “While cattle which spend less time in lairage will have more gut-fill, the results from the study indicate that this does not present increased risks of rumen rupture and contamination.” Dr Ferguson said no major differences in the pH, shear force and muscle glycogen measurements were found between the lairage treatment groups. Similar results have been observed in a subsequent Beef CRC study. He said the results are good news for the processing sector. “Reducing the amount of time animals spend in lairage not only means they can increase the amount of animals they process, but they can be confident knowing they won’t affect carcass and meat quality.” |
| For further information, contact Alison Buchanan, Communications Manager, (02) 6773 3795 or 0439 405 077 |
