Enhancing the Competitiveness and Value of U.S. Beef

<p>Objective 1 (objective 1 of the multistate #W3177): Research related to this objective will focus on the assessment of product quality and safety and processing practices that improve quality and safety of meat products. The investigator will focus the effort on the oxidation of lipid and protein related to product shelf life, microbiological contamination, and novel processing technologies such as electrostatic spray or active packaging of antioxidants and antimicrobials to suppress the development of oxidation, spoilage, and growth of pathogenic bacteria. Moreover, processing techniques such as aging will be explored in differentmanners such as long-term aging combined with the use of antioxidants to improve the overall values of beef. Improved and new methods to assess quality and safety parameters will also be explored so that improvement can be accurately measured. Beef flavor and color stability will be carefully evaluated so that technologies employed to enhance safety or a quality attribute will not jeopardize the overall chemical and sensory qualities of beef products.</p><p>Objective 2 (objective 3 of multistate #W3177): Research related to this objective will focus on information collection and dissemination, both domestically and internationally. Consumers' understanding andwillingness-to-pay for an improved quality or safety attribute will be explored. Consumer preferences of traditional attributes such as tenderness, juiciness, and flavor or culturally motivated issues such as grass-finished, locally grown, organic, etc. will be explored so that the meat industry can respond accordingly. The focuses of the objective 1 and 3 are related and will complement each other.</p><p> The methods used to achieve the objective 3 will be consumer panel, focus group, consumer survey, educational programs, and other market research methods.</p>