Food Australia (58 (4); 173-181)

Study

Composition of Australian red meat 2002-1 gross composition

Publication

Food Australia (58 (4); 173-181)

Authors

Williams P, Droulez V, Levy G and Stobaus T.

Background

Existing gross composition data of Australian red meat are based on surveys from more than ten years ago and did not distinguish between external and internal separable fat. The introduction of new cuts and different butchering practices make it timely to update the data.

Objective

To update the nutrient composition data for Australian red meat to reflect more contemporary retail red meat products available for purchase and current consumer consumption patterns, particularly in relation to differences in separable fat components.
To examine the usefulness of external fat thickness as a predictor of total separable fat in a wider range of raw and cooked red meat.

Study design

Two 500g samples of 15 beef, 11 lamb, 4 veal and 2 mutton cuts were purchased at random from ten retail outlets in Sydney and Melbourne (three supermarkets and two butchers in each, from different socioeconomic areas).

Samples were transported chilled within 24 hours to the Australian Government Analytical Laboratory (now National Measurement Institute). One of each pair of samples was cooked using standard protocols with minimal added fat. External and internal separable fat, bone and lean tissues were carefully dissected and weighed

Results

There was a wide variation in the amount of total separable fat, particularly internal fat, within samples of the same cut. Data for ‘as purchased’, ‘semi-trimmed’ and ‘fully trimmed’ red meat were calculated to represent current butchering and consumer practices. ‘Fully-trimmed’ represents meat trimmed of all external and internal fat; ‘semi-trimmed’ is trimmed of all external fat; and ‘as purchased’ meat is untrimmed. At least a third of the purchases collected for each cut were ‘fully trimmed’.

Conclusion

Retail samples of Australian red meat have lower levels of separable fat now compared to twenty years ago. When trimmed of external fat, most cuts contain less than 5 per cent separable fat, with none containing more than 12 per cent.

Link

Composition of Australian red meat 2002 – 1. gross composition.
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Meat & Livestock Australia acknowledges the matching funds provided by the Australian Government to support the research and development detailed in this information.