Chilled lamb leader

Press, 29 August 1986, Page 15

Chilled lamb leader

New Zealand has the technology to become a world leader in the production and marketing of chilled lamb, according to the Meat Industry Research Institute’s head microbiologist.

Dr Colin Gill considers New Zealand is well ahead of its major competitor Australia in the development of chilled meat technology.

“We have for over a year known how to produce chilled meat of reliably superior quality with an adequate storage life,” he told a recent Flock House course on out-of-season lambing. An example is the packaging method developed by the institute and U.E.B. Limited which doubled

the storage life of export chilled lamb from the previous level, he said.

Unless the meat industry could exploit that technology to satisfy the market in the next year or two, he said New Zealand would lose much of the economic benefit offering. “To turn any technical knowledge into commercial reality takes money, effort and experienced people. Someone has to risk a lot of money.” The meat industry has little experience in making those types of decisions but will have to learn, he said. Consumers worldwide prefer chilled meat to frozen, because they believe the most desirable quality in meat is freshness, Dr Gill said.

“At best, chilled meat stored in air will last for about three weeks.”

That does not give enough time for meat to be shipped to remote markets, and chilled meat exported from New Zealand must be packaged to extend its storage life, he said.

Packaging must also withstand the stresses of shipping and make a good impression on the consumer, he said.

Chilled lamb is presently exported in vacuum packs, which prevents oxygen reaching the meat and delays spoiling.

Even with vacuum packs, the storage life of chilled lamb is only eight weeks.

With shipping of the meat taking six weeks, the two remaining weeks are hardly long enough for adequate distribution and display of the product, Dr Gill said.

Adoption of the new packaging method would change that, because the quality of the meat was excellent at 16 .weeks. Flavour and texture was still good at 23 weeks, he said.

The packaging used carbon dioxide to extend the life of the meat, but avoided some effects the gas had on meat appearance such as discolouration.

The meat remained an attractive red, was very tender and the offensive smell associated with the opening of vacuum packs was avoided. Dr Gill said some of the sheepmeat flavour was lost which should appeal to south-east Asian consumers, many of whom dislike the present smell and flavour.