Go for taste in meat, not price

25 May 1999

‘Go for taste in meat, not price’

FARMERS should concentrate on producing tasty meat rather than cheap products, according to professor Jeff Wood of Bristol University.

Prof Wood, of the universitys animal science division, says domestic producers would be ill-advised to compete on price.

They should instead devote their energies to developing tenderness, followed by flavour, both of which can be influenced by feeding and processing, he says

Prof Wood advises against barley beef systems for this reason – it is difficult to obtain the true flavour of beef using them.

He is also against producing meat with the lowest quality of fat, since he sees fat as an important contributor to taste too.

The professor says the pig industry should be similarly concerned about flavour.

• The Herald 25/05/99 page 23