A supply chain approach to improving the shelf life of lamb meat; vitamin E concentration, electrical stimulation, ageing period and packaging system

This study investigated the effects of vitamin E, electrical stimulation, aging and packaging system on the colour stability of lamb meat. Eighty crossbred wether lambs, 6-8 months old were fed on either vitamin E or control pelleted diet for 31 days prior to slaughter. Half of the carcases from each group were electrically stimulated before being split longitudinally into 2. Each side was randomly allocated 1 of the 4 aging periods (5 days fresh, 10, 20 and 30 days CO2). Muscle samples were set for retail display, after the respective aging period, colour was measured over 96 h. Supplementing vitamin E nutritionally is likely to lengthen the shelf life of lamb products aged longer than 10 days. Muscle vitamin E concentrations > 3.0 mg/kg are required to increase the shelf life of lamb cuts aged for up to 30 days to 60 h. Medium voltage electrical stimulation did not have a detrimental effect on the display life of aged lamb meat.