Consumer Preferences in Meat
Louw Hoffman & Donna Cawthorn
Department of Animal Sciences, Stellenbosch University, P Bag X1 Stellenbosch, 7602 South Africa.
e-mail: [email protected]
Abstract
This paper addresses some of the requirements of modern consumers for fresh and processed meats. A focus is placed on the sensory quality attributes of meat tenderness, juiciness, flavour and odour and how these relate to the needs of the consumer. At the same time, cognizance is taken of the currentrequirements for healthy and nutritious food products, especially as pertaining to the lipid composition and the salt in the diet.Consumer desires for convenient and ready-to-eat meat products are discussed, as are some important issues surrounding process and/or production characteristics and their relation to animal welfare.
Keywords: meat, preference
Introducton
Anmal producers around the world are currently faced wth the common challenge of tryng to feed the seven bllon people on earth wth an ever-dmnshng supply of natural resources. Not only are there global decreases n the amount of sutable land avalable for farmng, butthere are also a number of other unversal hardshps beng faced, such as extreme weather patterns, degradaton of land due to unsound farmng practces and ncreases n zoonotc dseases. The only manner by whch the producton of meat proten can be ncreased s for anmal producers to become more scentfc n ther producton methodologes. Ths wll almost certanly necesstate an ncrease n the ntensfcaton of anmal producton systems. Nonetheless, modern consumers are frequently expressng aversons to consumng meat that s derved from an ntensve ‘factory-lke’ producton system.
effcency of the system. On the other hand, the use of antbotcs n feed are a common practce n the poultry ndustres, and to a lesser extent n the pork ndustres(Sofos, 2008). The use of stmulants and antbotcs, however, once agan leads to mxed perceptons among consumers, prmarly snce dfferent countres may permt or ban the use thereof.
Another major challenge faced by food producers s to ensure that hghly pershable products reach the market n a‘safe’ manner, wth a mnmal decrease n qualty. A large proporton of the meat producton n the world s from regons that are stuated far from the market, such as s the case n the South Amercas. Such stuatonsdepend crtcally on the mantenance of the cold chan throughout transportaton so as to mnmse post-harvest waste. The transportaton of meat across the globe also has mplcatons n terms of the costs and the carbon footprnt. The latter, n partcular, has led to consumer movements n some frst-world countres that promote the purchasng of“locally produced”foods sncethese are perceved to be more sustanable or envronmentally-frendly.
Another major soco-economc challenge currently beng faced relates to the fact that a large proporton of the world’s people do not possess suffcent fnancal means to purchase hgh-qualty proten sources, such as those produced from anmals. In stark contrast, another porton of the world populaton may have a great surplus of fnancal resources and these ndvduals can often be hghly crtcal n ther food choces. In the latter case, extrnsc cues such as the carbon footprnt and anmal welfare ssues assocated wth the producton process become ncreasngly mportant purchasng drvers (Grunert, 2006) and the more affluent consumers are frequently wllng to pay a prce premum for ther choces (Bennett, Anderson &Blaney, 2002). Although many producers have a strong socal responsblty towards feedng the world’s populaton, they are also faced wth the realty of havng to be economcally vable. In other words, farmers wll not produce food unless t s economcally feasble for them to do so. Accordng to the Unted Natons Food and Agrcultural Organzaton (FAO), agrcultural output wll need to ncrease by 70% by 2050 n order to feed the world’s populaton. Such a forecast wll requre the producton of another bllon tonnes of food gran and 200 mllon tonnes of lvestock meat. The key to ncreasng food producton from anmals wll rely on the mprovement of productvty through selectvely usng genetc technologes to breed for ncreased anmal producton crtera (Gao, Zhang, Hu & L, 2007; Allan & Smth, 2008). These breedng objectves should smultaneously also address welfare-frendly objectves, such as enhanced dsease resstance (Thomas, Scollan& Moran, 2011). Other means of fulfllng the predcted requrementsmay nclude the breedng of anmals that are approprate or well-suted to ther envronments (Slankove, 2000;Gregory, 2010; Crane, Elmore, Olsen &Tolleson, 2010; Bell, Charmley, Hunter & Archer, 2011).
The ncrease n demand s strongly lnked to the huge ncrease n buyng power from Chna and Inda. The wealther consumer, who can afford red meat, s frequently also a well-educated and travelled person who places value on the qualty aspects of the meat (Martell, 2009). However, ths perceved qualty s mult-dmensonal and ncludes sensory qualty, healthness, convenence and process characterstcs lke anmal welfare and producton (frequently ‘organc’) systems (Grunert, 2006). The pressure on red meat sales due to the worldwde economc recesson has caused a reapprasal of the factors whch nfluence ts appeal to consumers, whch ultmately all comes back down to the qualty of the meat. Accordng to Wood, Enser, Fsher, Nute, Rchardson &Sheard (1999), some of the factors determnng meat qualty nclude the absence of mcrobal hazards, the preventon of anmal explotaton, the sensory appeal of the meat and the perceved healthness, especally n relaton to the amount and type of fat.
Sensory Qualty
Irrespectve of the purchasng ablty of the consumer, each ndvdual nevtably wants to have the best eatng experence for ther money. In the lower ncome groups, meat s eaten for ts nutrtonal value, whle n the hgher ncome groups t s often consumed for the eatng experence tself. In fact, the consumpton of meat s seen as a sgn of prosperty and wealth. Thus, as the wealth of a communty ncreases, sodoes ther meat consumpton (Aaslyng, 2009). However, the type and amount of meat consumed s nfluenced byother factors, such as gender, age and martal status. Men eat more meat n general and a greater proporton of red meat than women (revewed by Aaslyng, 2009). Addtonally, older people typcally eat more meat n general and a greater proporton of red meat than chldren. Famles also tend to eat more meat than sngle people. Interestngly, Aaslyng (2009) notes that less-educated, adult men exhbt one of the hghest levels of meat consumpton, whle young, well-educated women show one of the lowest levels of consumpton.
It s self-evdent that the tradtonal manner n whch meat s prepared wll nfluence the qualty descrptors. A consumer eatng a fresh steak wll have dfferent qualty cues compared to one eatng a tradtonally dry/smoked or stewed meat product. Although a large amount of research has focused on the qualty attrbutes of fresh meat (typcally consumed as steaks), the desre for greater convenence n meal preparaton has also resulted n an ncrease n the consumpton of ready-to-eat meat products. The qualty attrbutes of these would also dffer and be more focused on perceved healthness (fat levels, cholesterol, salt concentratons) and ease of preparaton and consumpton, wth tme-savng beng of essence.
the absence of off-flavours) (Aaslyng, 2009). These three attrbutes have receved a huge research focus n the past and wll contnue to receve attenton n the future. The value of each characterstc also dffers wthn each stuaton. For nstance, when meat s very tender, then the value placed on jucness and flavour becomes more mportant. However, tenderness s the most mportant of the three. It s now well establshed that no sngle factor nfluences these characterstcs, but that t s rather a cumulatve effect of a large number of factors that are extrnsc and ntrnsc to the anmal tself. The modern scentfc anmal producer wll use a number of technologes (such as DNA markers for meat qualty trats) and producton systems (ntensve feedlot that restrct movement thereby mnmsng the effect of exercse on muscle colour and toughness) to ensure that a fresh product s produced that meets the expected hedonc value deemed approprate by the consumer. However, t s also known that a number of negatve actvtes along the supply chan could negate these technologes.Of specal nterest to the modern dscernng consumer s the welfare status of the anmals n transt to the abattor (see secton 6).
The aforementoned qualty characterstcs are all applcable to cooked meat. Pror to cookng, the meat has to be purchased and the prmary qualty characterstc at ths tme s the vsual appearance (colour of the meat). The colour of the meat s determned by numerous extrnsc and ntrnsc factors such as the age of the anmal, the envronment n whch the anmal was rased (.e. whether t was exposed to a hgh level of physcal actvty), the muscle type, the concentraton of myoglobn pgments and then the chemcal state of the myoglobn (Mancn, 2009; Mancn &Hunt, 2005). Other factors such as ante mortem stress also lead to abnormal colour developments, such as dark, frm and dry (DFD) or pale soft and exudatve (PSE) meat. The former s typcally assocated wth the meatfrom rumnants, whlst the latter s more frequent wth that from monogastrc anmals. The stressor that causes these abnormal phenomenon are typcally nduced by human-anmal nteractons (Coleman & Hemsworth, 2012), but can also be caused by other factors such as extreme weather fluctuatons (Kng, Wheeler, Shackelford &Koohmarae, 2009).
(measured as pH) to devate from the norm and resultng n ether DFD or PSE. Ths n turnmpactson the actvty of the proteolytc enzymes that are responsble for tendersng the meat (Devne et al., 2006). Numerous strateges may be appled n an attempt tonegate the decrease n tenderness, ncludngelectrcal stmulaton, carcass suspenson, chllng regme, agng, use of external enzymes, mechancal, hydrodynamc shock, pressure and pre-rigor stretchng (Thompson, 2002; Farouk, Wklund &Rosenvold, 2009). Nonetheless, all of these methods are costly, and the qualty of the end product stll frequently dffers consderably from that expected of the fresh meat product. Of specal note n ths regardare the Bosindicus breeds that are known to have hgher levels of calpastatn, the nhbtor for the calpan enzymes, causng the meat from these breeds to be tougher (Shackelford, Koohmarae, Mller, Crouse & Reagan, 1991; Strydom, 2006).
Jucness s an mportant factor n the eatng qualty of meat, although ts mportance s determned by the specfc meat product beng consumed.For nstance, jucness s more mportant when consumng a steak than t s when consumng that meat whch has been cut nto small strps for a stew. Whereas ante mortem
stress plays an mportant factor n determnng the water-bndng capacty of fresh muscle (by nfluencng the rate of decrease of muscle pH as well as the fnal pH), the man factor determnng the jucness of meat s the end-pont temperature durng the cookng (Aaslyng, 2009).Increased amounts of ntermuscular fat also ncreases jucness, especally when the meat s cooked at a hgh temperature. Aaslyng (2009) noted that the most mportant factor to ncrease the jucness of meat s to educate the consumer on not over-cookng the meat. However, ethnc dfferences n food preparaton also have to be taken nto account when addressng ths parameter.
The flavour of any meat s a combnaton of ts taste and aroma, whch are strongly nfluenced by addtonal factors such as mouthfeel and jucness. Raw meat has hardly any aroma and only a blood-lke flavour. Durng the applcaton of heat, a complex seres of thermally-nduced reactons occur between the non-volatle components of the lean and fatty tssues (Elmore &Mottram, 2009). Over 1000 volatle compounds have been dentfed n meat. Elmore &Mottram (2009) revewed the two man reactons that result n flavour development as meat s cooked. The frst s the Mallard reacton, occurrng between the reducng sugars and amno acds, and whch s responsble for the typcal meaty flavour and savoury, roast and boled character. The second factor s lpd degradaton that results n fatty aromas typcally found n cooked meat. Inevtably, t s also the fat composton that s responsble for the flavour and aroma dfferences between speces (Wasserman & Talley, 1968).
1997). Mcrobal enzymes derved from Butyrivibriofibrisolvensare responsble for the somersaton and hydrolyss of detary lpds and the converson of unsaturated fatty acds (UFA) to varous partally and fully saturated dervatves, ncludng conjugated lnolec acd (CLA: C18:2 cs-9, 11) (c), trans vaccenc acd (C18:1 t-11) (VA) and stearic acid (C18:0). Althoughlinoleic (C18:2 n−6) (LA) and linolenic (C18:3 n−3) (ALA) acids are the main UFA in the diet of ruminants, the processes occurrng wthn the rumen ensure that the major fatty acd leavng the rumen s C18:0. The uptake of UFA nto the small ntestne by rumnants s smlar to that n non-rumnant anmals, but dffers n the case of saturated fatty acds (SFA) (Bauchart, 1993). The ntestnal absorpton co-effcent of ndvdual fatty acds s hgher n rumnants than n non-rumnants, rangng from 80% for SFA to 92% for polyunsaturated fatty acds (PUFA) n conventonal low fat dets. The hgher absorpton effcency of SFA by rumnants has been attrbuted to the greater capacty of the ble salt and lysophospholpdmcellar system to solublse fatty acds, as well as the acd condtons wthn the duodenum and jejunum (pH 3.0–6.0). The low pH s due to a low concentraton of pancreatc hydrogen carbonate whch reduces the converson of SFA nto nsoluble calcum salts (whch cannot be absorbed by the enterocytes). However, tracylglycerol resynthess n rumnants takes place va the glycerol-6-phosphate pathway due to the vrtual absence of 2-monoacylglycerol. The resyntheszed lpd s carred as lpoprotens, chylomcrons and very low densty lpoprotens (VLDLP) n the blood stream for uptake by the lpoproten lpase enzyme and ncorporaton nto the tssues. An mportant dfference between non-rumnant and non-rumnant anmals s that n the latter, the long chan PUFA, C20 and C22, are not ncorporated to any great extent nto tracylglycerols, but nstead are ncorporated nto the membrane phospholpds and wll be deposted n sgnfcant amounts n the ntramuscular tssue (Enser, Hallett, Hewett, Fursey& Wood,1996; Offer, Marsden, Dxon, Speake& Thacker,1999).
Healthness
The past number of years has been characterzed by an ncrease n consumer nterest n ther nutrton and health, whch has resulted n the development of health drectves by governments for some food components, especally fats (Smopoulos, 2001).
n-cdence of dseases assocated wth the modern lfestyle are wdely documented, especally CHD (Krtchevsky, 1998, 2000) and varous cancers (Wood et al., 2003), ths has also been challenged n the past few years (McAfee et al., 2010). As an ex-ample, n a meta-analyss and revew of epdemologcal cohort studes, no ndepen-dent assocaton could be found between the consumpton of anmal fat and breast cancer (Alexander, Mormoto, Mnk & Lowe, 2010). The low PUFA:SFA rato of rumnants s a consequence of the extensve bohydrogenaton of ngested PUFA by the rumen mcroorgansms, leadng to the formaton of trans-MUFAs and SFA, whch are then ncorporated nto the lpds n the muscle (Jenkns, 1993).
The degree of saturaton of anmal fats s nfluenced by ts fatty acd composton (Webb & Casey, 1995). Accordngly, the qualty of fat s determned by the fatty acd composton, whch affects the palatablty and shelf lfe. As mentoned, a shft n fatty acd composton can be nduced by means of detary manpulaton, whch wll subsequently enhance the nutrtonal qualty of red meat and fat qualty. Detary manpulaton strateges are also avalable that mnmse bohydrogenaton of ngested PUFA n the rumen (Chkunya, Demrel, Enser, Wood, Wlknson & Snclar, 2004).
Another aspect that has been the focus of consumer attenton as pertanng to red meat s the level of sodum (Na), due to ts correlaton wth hgh blood pressure. Epdemologcal studes ndcate a postve assocaton between excessve ntake of Na, blood pressure and prevalence of hypertenson (Appel et al., 2006). However, the Na levels n fresh meat are low. Rather, t s frequently the hgh levels of salt (NaCl) that are added to many processed meats consumed n the western det that leads to an elevaton n the Na levels. However, consumers are generally not always able to dstngush between the Na n fresh meat and that n processed meat.
Convenence
Wth food safety and transparency n mnd, most countres have nowenactedfood labellng regulatons that requre that certan nformaton be dsplayed on packagng, whch ncludes (but s not lmted to) a full ngredent lst, nutrtonal composton data,recommended daly allowances (RDAs), as well as the declaraton of certan common allergens.A great deal of research, however, has shown that consumers frequently experence dffculty n understandng much of the nformaton presented on food labels (Shannon, 1993; Sadler, 1999; Kempden, 2011). When ndvduals do not understand labellng or nformaton overload arses, they tend to avod the presented nformaton altogether (Kaswell&Padberg, 1992) and food labels become an neffectve nformaton source and do not serve as successful purchasng drvers (Kempden, 2011).
New nnovatve moble phone technology now allows consumers to selectvely acqure addtonal nformaton on certan characterstcs of food products, and n so dong, asssts wth ther nterpretaton of food labels. Usng such applcatons, ndvduals are able to scan food product barcodes n store usng ther cellular phones and they can thereafter browse nformaton relatng to the nutrtonal composton of the product, the farm of orgn, the carbon footprnt and other pertnent content relatng to anmal treatment and envronmental sustanablty. Another technologcal trend geared towards convenence s shoppng on-lne, whch permts consumers to choose whch products they wsh to purchase wthout gong nto the store.
Although there has undoubtedlybeen an ncreased preference for convenence foods, there has also been a recent consumer trend towards the purchasng of ‘home-grown’or ‘locally-produced’ products, typcally from weekend markets or farm-stalls. The drvng deology behnd ths trend s that‘home-grown’ and ‘local’ s best, wth all attrbutes lnked to the modern concepts of organcally-produced, carbon foot prnt and so forth, whch encompasses not only the producton system but also the value chan as pertanng to transport and packagng. Underlyng the purchasng of these products s a belef that they are healthy and safe to consume (Gellynck, Verbeke&Vermere (2006), whch may not always be the case, especally where there are no authortes to ensure that the necessary regulatons are adhered to.
Process/producton characterstcs
deas and perceptons onthe defntons ofmeat qualty.There are unquestonably certan congruences and dvergences between producers and consumers (Sepúlveda, Maza&Pardos, 2011), ndcatng that the flow of nformaton between these two ends of the value chan requres further development. To an anmal scentst, qualty would be lnked to producton performance, wherethe welfare aspects would be underwrtten by the followng fve basc prncples: adequate ar, water, and feed; safe housng and suffcent space; approprate complexty of the envronment; regular supervson and effectve health care; sensble handlng. On the other hand, for a food scentst, qualty would be lnked to aspects measurable n the product, such as pH, colour, chemcal composton as well as sensory characterstcs. For the consumer, the followng major dmensons have been dentfed whch are consdered as beng relevant to the qualty of anmal products: sensory characterstcs, ncludng taste, odour, appearance, texture; healthness, as anmal-based foods are assocated wth ther composton; ntake of essental nutrents but these are also frequently deemed as potentally mparng human health (e.g. source of saturated fatty acds, vector of nfectons or pollutants); convenence, concernng the ease of preparaton; and process characterstcs, dealng wth the way food products of anmal orgn are obtaned, ncludng farmng systems, even though these aspects may have no effects on the other qualty dmensons (Grunert, Beach-Larsen &Bredal, 2000). Each dmenson ams to satsfy consumer purchase motves or values wthn the correspondng context (Grunert, 2006).
The anmal producer s well aware that f they were to abde by the basc prncples of anmal welfare, the producton performance of the anmals would be mproved. In dary cattle, for nstance, close human nteracton wth the anmal wll result n better mlk yeld (Hemsworth, Coleman, Barnett, Borg & Dowlng, 2002). In young glts, a postve experence wth the stockperson wll result n larger ltter szes (Hemsworth, Barnett, Coleman & Hansen, 1989), however, an mportant aspect n ths regard would be the anmal-stockperson nteracton and the atttude of the latter to anmals (Hemsworth, 2003).It s therefore n the best nterest of the producer to ensure that the anmal s comfortable and has all ts needs addressed. It s also well known that the anmal welfare, especally as relatng to the ante mortem
road nfluenced the level of brusng and thus the welfare of cattle transported to slaughterhouses n Uruguay. Alamet al. (2010) found that the treatment of cattle and spent water buffalos n Bangladesh at the pont of sale and durng the transport to the abattor dd not adhere to anmal welfare gudelnes. Most of the welfare malpractces noted was caused by others along the process/value chan and not the producer.It s of further nterest to note that as from 1 January 2013, all countres exportng meat nto the EU wll have to meet the requrements of Councl Regulaton (EC) No 1099/2009 (2009), whch ncludes requrements n the followng areas: the layout, constructon and equpment of slaughterhouses, handlng and restranng of anmals and stunnng and slaughter (Cassdy, 2012).
In some cases, the modern marketplace tself places requrements on the producers that are actually detrmental to the anmal’s welfare, for example, the regulatons found n most countresrequrng that cattle be dentfed pror to beng slaughtered. Ths practce results n the excessve handlng of cattle durng musterng n Namba where the anmals need to be hot branded for ownershp dentfcaton (Hoffman &Lühl, 2012). In the revew by Gregory (2008), t was concluded that the addtonal handlng mposed by checkng lvestock passports needs to be reconsdered and that the use of remote anmal dentfcaton methods may help solve anmal welfare problems assocated wth the readng of ear tags. For the modern consumer, the dea of a wet market where lve anmals are kept and slaughtered n publc s abhorrent, not only from the perceved nhumane treatment of the anmals, but also from the beastalty response nvoked when the anmal s butchered n publc. Gregory (2008) expands on the welfare ssues related to wet markets such as excess handlng and rudmentary care.
Concluson
It s clear that as the profle of the modern consumer changes, ther requrements for fresh meat and meat products are concurrently modfed. Today, more emphass s beng placed on the ethcal producton of meat and t effect on the envronment. Fortunately for the anmal producer, ethcal producton and treatment for anmals s postvely correlated wth good welfare practces. To meet the ncreasng global demand for anmal proten, producers wll need to become more scentfc n ther producton systems – even when farmng extensvely. An area where there wll be a rapd ncrease n the near future wll be the genetc selecton of anmals to ensure that ther performance meets the requrements of the consumer.
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