Changes in the Physico-Chemical Quality of Red Meat during the Distribution of Carcasses from the Abattoir to the Retailers

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of the distribution chain, distance between the abattoir and meat retailer, storage duration of meat at the meat retailer and meat retailer class on the physico-chemical quality of red meat. Beef (n = 150), pork (n = 150) and mutton (n = 150) samples were collected during the loading process of carcasses into refrigerated trucks, at the offloading point and during marketing to measure the effect of the distance between the abattoir and meat retailer, storage duration of meat at the meat retailer and meat retailer class (butcher, middle and high class) on the meat quality attributes. Meat quality attributes measured were; lightness (L*), redness (a*), yellowness (b*), pH_u, cooking loss (CL%), Warner–Bratzler shear force (WBSF) and meat temperature (TM). The distribution stage had an effect (p < 0.05) on some of the meat quality attributes, specifically the a* values for all meat types during loading (18.5 ± 0.93), off-loading (15.8 ± 0.93) and display (20.2 ± 0.94) points. Abattoir to meat retailer distance had a significant effect on L*, a*, hue angle and chroma values (p < 0.05). Storage duration at the retailer point significantly affected L* and a* values of meat (p < 0.05). Meat retailer class affected WBSF and meat yellowness (p < 0.05). In conclusion, the distribution chain, distance between the abattoir and meat retailer, storage duration of meat at the meat retailer and meat retailer class all affect the physico-chemical quality of red meat.