Seward Stomacher® 400 Used for Reindeer Meat Quality Research

Seward have highlighted a seasonal application for their patented Stomacher® Paddle Blender range - the assessment of reindeer meat quality¹. This is in addition to a broad array of familiar applications in preparing the best festive food samples for analysis and protecting the reputation of food processors, as well as consumer health. During the festive season, the company unsurprisingly sees a ramping up of activity in global customer demand as the food industry gears up for seasonal celebrations, from poultry processors and confectioners to fig and date packagers.

Less well known are the many applications of the Stomacher 400 Circulator machines in the food chain between producer and processor. Such an application carried out at the Swedish University of Agricultural Science Department of Food Hygiene¹ looked at the impact of transportation times to slaughter on the quality of reindeer meat. The Stomacher was used to look at the impact on the growth of spoilage microorganisms within the carcasses of three different reindeer study groups.

The findings showed that a 1 log increase in bacterial count was detected in reindeer that had to travel the furthest in terms of transportation time prior to slaughter. This is linked to the biochemical changes induced by stress that change the pH of the meat prior to slaughter, allowing spoilage organisms to grow faster.

Related studies are currently underway in many parts of the world on the impact of stress on meat quality, one manifestation of which will be spoilage and shelf life. For example, the Lacombe Research Centre of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Ontario, Canada this year is investigating the development of an in-line procedure to detect stress in pigs arriving at the slaughterhouse. This will have an impact on the quality of meat produced and support a valuable industry.

The Stomacher 400 is widely used for the preparation of fully homogenised samples in meat testing. In real unspiked samples the machine ensures maximum recovery, even where there is surface adhesion, allowing the proper analysis of data.


Reference:
1. Ultimate pH values and bacteriological condition of meat and stress metabolites in blood of transported reindeer bulls. E. Wiklund, C. Rehbinder, G. Malmfors, I. Hansson, M-L Danielsson-Tham. Rangifer 21 (1), 3-12, 2001