Tough test for supermarket beef
© Ale EBLEX is about to embark on a new study to monitor the quality of beef being sold in English supermarkets.
A team of mystery shoppers will buy packs of beef from shops across the country and pass them to meat scientists who will test the meat for its toughness.
It is planned to share the findings with individual stores and processors who supply the stores later this autumn, but results will not be made public.
It is hoped that taking a snapshot of the quality of beef being sold in English stores will create a benchmark against which the impact of modern farming methods and changes in practices can be measured.
“We are focusing on toughness as this still appears to be the major concern from consumers with regard to beef quality,” Kim Matthews, EBLEX meat scientist, said.
“We are also exploring whether we can cost-effectively test the meat for indicators of animal age to understand whether variation in age at slaughter is influencing toughness.”