Jase J. Ball

Edible beef heart may improve whole-animal utilization while enhancing the nutritional value of ground beef; however, its effects on refrigerated storage stability remain unclear. This study evaluated the influence of beef heart on the shelf-life characteristics of vacuum-packaged ground beef. Ground beef was produced in three batches per treatment from beef trimmings (80% lean and 20% fat). Treatments consisted of control (0% heart), 6% heart, or 12% heart. Samples were vacuum packaged and evaluated on days 0, 5, 10, and 15 for instrumental surface color, myoglobin forms, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), and pH. Treatment × storage day interactions were observed for pH (p < 0.05), TBARS (p < 0.05), instrumental color (p < 0.05), and calculated myoglobin forms (p < 0.05). Including beef heart in ground beef altered surface color characteristics, resulting in lower a* values (p < 0.05) and greater hue angle (p < 0.05) on day 0. TBARS values increased with heart addition throughout storage, with the 12% heart treatment exhibiting the greatest TBARS values (p < 0.05). Beef heart inclusion altered some physicochemical characteristics, but these changes did not compromise product stability during 15 days of refrigerated vacuum storage.

Edible beef organs are nutrient-dense ingredients that may improve whole-animal utilization while enhancing the nutritional value of ground beef. This study evaluated the effects of organ type and inclusion level on the quality characteristics and consumer acceptability of ground beef patties. Patties were manufactured from three independent batches and formulated as a control (0% organ), 6% beef heart, 12% beef heart, 6% beef kidney, or 12% beef kidney. Nutritional composition, cooking characteristics, instrumental color, texture, and consumer acceptance were evaluated. Organ-containing patties had higher moisture content than the control (p = 0.0082), while 12% beef kidney resulted in the greatest cholesterol and sodium concentrations (p < 0.0001). Patties containing 12% beef kidney exhibited the lowest cooking loss (p = 0.0004) and Allo–Kramer shear force values (p < 0.0001), corresponding to the greatest consumer-perceived tenderness (p < 0.0001). However, this treatment received the lowest ratings for overall liking, flavor, texture, purchase intent, and willingness to pay (p < 0.0001). In contrast, 6% and 12% beef heart retained consumer acceptability comparable to the control while reducing formulation cost. These findings identify beef heart as a promising ingredient for increasing edible organ utilization in ground beef without compromising consumer acceptance.

Consumer acceptance remains a primary barrier to incorporating organ meats into value-added beef products, despite their nutritional profile. This study evaluated the effectiveness of educational infographics emphasizing either nutritional benefits or economic value on consumer perceptions of organ-enhanced ground beef. A total of 1939 U.S. consumers served as the experimental unit and completed an online survey administered through Qualtrics. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two educational infographic treatments (nutrition or economics and resource utilization). Consumer perception indices were calculated before and after infographic exposure. Changes in perception (Δ) were analyzed with infographic treatment, food familiarity level and their interaction. Educational infographics produced small numerical improvements in consumer perception, although responses did not differ between infographic types. No differences were observed among nutrition- or economic-focused infographics for any perception index (p = 0.1570). Likewise, no interaction between infographic type and Food Familiarity Index were detected (p = 0.4849). However, food familiarity significantly influenced acceptance (p < 0.0001), label transparency (p < 0.0001), and willingness-to-pay (p < 0.0001). Consumers with greater food familiarity reported more favorable perceptions than those with lower familiarity. However, FFI level did not impact economic perception. Current results demonstrate that concise educational messaging can influence consumer perceptions of organ-enhanced ground beef. Furthermore, improving consumer food familiarity may enhance acceptance and marketability of nutrient-dense beef products containing edible organ meats.

Consumer demand for beef products is driven by eating quality, affordability, and versatility. Creating value-added formulations that enhance nutritional density without compromising acceptability is a crucial part of product development. Organ meats are nutrient-dense beef byproducts that remain underutilized in U.S. food systems. Edible beef by-products contribute substantially to carcass value through domestic and export markets. Incorporating beef organs into ground beef blends may provide a value-added opportunity to enhance whole-animal utilization. Objectives of this study were to evaluate the effects of beef heart, liver, or kidney at 15% inclusion on product quality and consumer acceptability of ground beef patties. Patties were formulated as control (no organ) or with heart, liver, or kidney and evaluated for cooking characteristics, instrumental color, objective tenderness, and consumer acceptance. Liver and kidney patties increased redness and chroma of raw and cooked patties (P < 0.0001). Moreover, liver and kidney patties reduced shear force and hardness compared to control and patties containing beef heart (P < 0.0001). Consumer panelists rated patties with kidney as juicier (P < 0.0001) and more tender (P = 0.0004). Sensory panelists scores report similar findings for control and heart patties for overall liking (P = 0.5208), appearance (P = 0.5823), aroma (P = 0.1756), and texture (P = 0.6387). A tendency (P = 0.0763) was observed for flavor with control and heart patties receiving higher flavor scores than the remaining treatments. Liver patties received the lowest scores for overall liking, flavor, and texture (P < 0.0001) compared to all other treatments. Results demonstrate that ground beef quality and consumer perception are influenced by organ type with beef heart maintaining characteristics like control patties. Among the organs evaluated, kidney inclusion provided the greatest improvements in juiciness and tenderness for beef patties but exhibited sensory challenges. Results indicate the need for further investigation to identify an optimal inclusion rate that maximizes eating quality and consumer acceptability. Formulation estimates suggest that replacing 15% of the beef trimmings with organ meat can reduce formulation cost while improving utilization of carcass components. Results suggest the potential for incorporating beef organs into ground beef as a value-added strategy to enhance sustainability and economic efficiency.

Vacuum-based packaging is less frequently applied to poultry at the retail level. Evaluating the impact of vacuum packaging on fresh poultry may elicit extensions to storage life and reduce spoilage for consumer products such as fresh chicken. Boneless–skinless chicken breasts (N = 315; 105/treatment) were packaged using polyvinyl chloride (PVC) overwrap, vacuum packaging (VP), or vacuum skin packaging (VSP) and stored in simulated retail conditions for 20 days. Packages of fresh chicken were measured for changes in surface color, odor, pH, microbial growth, lipid oxidation, and volatile compounds. Packaging treatment significantly influenced surface color, with VP samples appearing lighter (p < 0.0001) and less red (p < 0.0001) than chicken packaged using PVC. Odor scores increased as storage time increased (p < 0.0001), and VSP maintained the most favorable odor throughout the 20-day refrigerated display. Lipid oxidation was greatest in PVC (p = 0.0338) packages on day 5 and lowest for VSP chicken packages on day 15. Electronic nose (e-nose) analysis concluded that packaging can influence aldehydes (p = 0.0025), alkanes (p = 0.0143), and terpene (p = 0.0214), compounds which have been associated with off-odors. In addition, microbial counts increased during storage time across all packaging types (p < 0.0001) but did not exceed a spoilage threshold of 7-log CFU/g throughout the 20 days of storage. The results conclude that vacuum-based packaging methods, either VP or VSP, can improve storage duration meat quality characteristics during refrigerated storage, and volatile e-nose compounds may be linked to the development of off-odors.

The storage duration of fresh meat products is a contributing factor leading to increased waste and loss at the retail counter. Losses of fresh pork can be linked to packaging methods that do not protect the attributes of color, taste, and odors consumers use in determining wholesome meat. Boneless pork loins (N = 63) were fabricated into 2.54-cm-thick chops and assigned to one of three vacuum treatments (VacA, VacB, VacC) or a fourth polyvinyl chloride overwrap (PVC) treatment to assess objective fresh color, cook loss, Warner–Bratzler shear force (WBSF), and lipid oxidation. Pork chops (n = 882) were evaluated at 5-day intervals (D 0, 5, 10, 15) in a randomized complete block design. Pork chop surface color was lighter (L*; p < 0.0001) when stored in a vacuum compared to PVC-packaged loin chops, regardless of storage duration. Redness (a*) values were greater (p < 0.0001) for loin chops stored in PVC than all other vacuum packaging treatments throughout the entire 15-day display period. Relative values for chroma on PVC-packaged loin chops were greater (p < 0.0001) throughout the simulated retail display period. An interaction of day and packaging treatment (p < 0.0343) occurred for WBSF. Lipid oxidation for pork chops packaged using PVC was significantly greater (p < 0.0001) from Day 10 through the completion of the storage period. Results indicate that vacuum packaging limits the deterioration of fresh pork loin chops, whereas traditional overwrapping expedites the color and lipid oxidation during refrigerated storage.

Consumer purchasing of beef is often driven by the trinity of flavor, palatability, and convenience. Currently, beef patties in the United States are manufactured with fat and lean trimmings derived from skeletal muscles. A reduction in total beef supply may require the use of animal by-product utilization such as variety meats to achieve patty formulations. The current study aimed to assess textural, color, and flavor characteristics in addition to volatile compounds through electronic technology, e-nose and e-tongue, of ground beef patties formulated with beef heart. Ground beef patties were manufactured with 0%, 6%, 12%, or 18% beef heart, with the remainder of the meat block being shoulder clod-derived ground beef. Patties (n = 65/batch/treatment) within each batch (n = 3) with each treatment were randomly allocated to cooked color (n = 17/batch/treatment), Allo–Kramer shear force (AKSF; n = 17/batch/treatment), texture profile analysis (TPA; n = 6/batch/treatment), cooking loss (n = 17/batch/treatment), consumer panel (n = 3/batch/treatment), e-nose (n = 1/batch/treatment), and e-tongue (n = 1/batch/treatment) analysis groups. Patties containing beef heart did not require additional cooking time (p = 0.1325) nor exhibit greater cooking loss (p = 0.0803). Additionally, inclusion rates of beef heart increased hardness (p = 0.0030) and chewiness values (p = 0.0316) in TPA, were internally redder (p = 0.0001), and reduced overall liking by consumer panelists (p = 0.0367). Lastly, patties containing beef heart exhibited greater red-to-brown (p = 0.0003) and hue angle (p = 0.0001) values than control patties. The results suggest that beef heart inclusion does alter ground beef quality characteristics and consumer acceptability.

With rising consumer demand for fast-food options, quick-service restaurants are constantly developing new menu items to attract consumers. Sous vide cookery has become popular for the in-home and fine dining consumer but has not been considered the first cooking option for quick service applications. Therefore, ground beef patties were manufactured to measure the influence of sous vide cooking time on the patty characteristics of moisture, color, and objective tenderness. Patties were randomly assigned a sous vide cooking time of 30, 60, or 90 min and then grilled to an internal temperature of 71.1 °C. Patties sous vide cooked for 30 min exhibited the greatest (p < 0.05) cook loss, Allo–Kramer Shear Force (AKSF) and were darker (L*) than patties sous vide cooked for 60 or 90 min. Additionally, neither internal redness, calculated spectral values of chroma, hue angle, or red-to-brown differed (p > 0.05) regardless of sous vide cooking time. Sous vide cooking duration prior to grilling the ground beef patties altered the moisture, color, and objective texture characteristics of ground beef patties.

Growth-promoting implants are broadly used in the feedlot industry to improve growth performance and to increase production efficiencies. With cattle being fed longer and to heavier weights, there is demand for extended-release implants that payout for at least 200 d. Our objective was to evaluate feedlot growth of Synovex ONE Grower, a moderate potency (150 mg trenbolone acetate [TBA] and 21 mg estradiol benzoate [EB]), extended-release, growth-promoting implant for 200 d. At four locations (Texas, Idaho, California, and Nebraska), 200 steers (n = 800; d 0 body weight [BW] = 320.2 ± 9.5 kg) and 200 heifers (n = 800; d 0 BW = 311.5 ± 9.5 kg) were blocked by BW and randomized to 1 of 2 treatments: 1) Control, empty subcutaneous needle inserted and extracted from the middle third of one ear; 2) ONE Grower, 150 mg TBA and 21 mg EB extended-release implant administered in middle third of one ear. Treatments were commingled within pen of the same sex (n = 4/site; 2/sex/site) in a split plot design replicated across four sites. Cattle were fed finishing ration ad libitum common to each geographical region at least once daily and were observed for any abnormal health events twice daily. Treatments were administered on d 0. Mid-study implant site evaluations were performed on d 35 or 41. Initial BW was recorded on d 0 and final BW was recorded on d 200 to 204. Cattle were harvested from d 201 to 231; however, carcass data were not collected due to slaughter facility complications brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were analyzed using the PROC MIXED and PROC GLIMMIX procedures of SAS (Version 9.4, SAS Institute, Cary, NC; P < 0.05), and animal was the experimental unit. There were no treatment × sex interactions (P ≥ 0.052) for any variable. Final BW on d 200 was greater (P < 0.01) for steers and heifers implanted with ONE Grower compared to Control; ONE Grower improved final BW by 5.7% for steers and 3.9% for heifers. Overall average daily gain (ADG) from d 0 to 200 was greater (P < 0.01) for ONE Grower steers and heifers compared to Control with an increase in ADG of 13.1% for steers and 8.9% for heifers. For cattle implanted with ONE Grower, implant retention rates at d 35 or 41 were 95.7% and 96.3% for steers and heifers, respectively. There was no difference (P ≥ 0.32) in percentage deads, removals, or bullers (steers) between treatments. Synovex ONE Grower improved final BW and ADG in feedlot steers and heifers fed for at least 200 d.