Should the South African red meat classification system be revised or maintained? A review

Abstract

The objective of this review was to determine whether the current South African red meat classification system still needs to be revised and changed or maintained. It also gives insight into the most significant challenges related to meat quality evaluation in this system. Red Meat Research and Development South Africa (RMRD SA) was requested to lead an investigation into the relevance of the current South African red meat classification system. A final decision was made to maintain the system as it was in 2016. Nonetheless, it is still unclear whether consumers buy meat according to the standards set by the system, since it is mostly understood and practised efficiently by middlemen, especially abattoir operators. The general perception that this system is not quality based, but descriptive, has resulted in seeming non-transparency among some red meat industry stakeholders. Although the red meat industry is emphasizing that a quality assurance system remains too expensive to be implemented in South Africa and that the current system should be sustained, there is still room for revising it. All predictions in this review indicate that the present system cannot satisfy all the needs of the current consumer. The system seems to be inclined towards meat traders, since it is value based and may not reflect the expectations and needs of consumers in terms of meat quality. This paper therefore concluded that the South African red meat classification system still needs to be revised and more research should be done for it to become more effective. ___________________________________________________________________________________

The Potential of Goat Meat in the Red Meat Industry

“…Additionally, chevon which is leaner compared to other red meats, has favourable sensory and visual appeal [46]. Despite its favourable chemical nutrient composition and physical attributes, chevon is less recognized in the formal meat markets [48,49], is seen as a product for the poor and deemed an inferior product fit for the lower-income populace [50][51][52]. There is also a perception among consumers that chevon is stringy, tough and too strongly flavoured [21,46,53].…”

Influence of feeding systems on selected beef quality and sensory attributes

“…This implies that consumers rely on an integrated production system when making choices for the final product, and that, is determined by the classification system. The South African red meat classification system based mainly on animal age and fatness, has been criticised for satisfying the meat sellers without providing the consumer with any measure of expected eating quality (Sonji et al, 2017). In this study, we investigated the combined effects of feeding regime accompanied by differences in animal age as well as the utilisation of the zilpaterol in a typical feeding system of the South African beef industry.…”