Appearance is the first factor consumers judge when purchasing meat products — especially poultry. Consumers often rely on consistent color for poultry safety and freshness. Here are some tips when testing poultry color for meat acceptability.
READ Best Practices for Measuring the Color of Chocolate Bars
Identify Differences in Raw Poultry Color
When searching for quality meat, consumers judge the appearance of raw poultry, and its color will ultimately affect their buying decision. Raw poultry can range from a bluish-white to a yellow hue related to the animal's breed, age, diet, or exercise.
Poultry's color can also change after it is ground. A darker pink indicates the primary use of dark meat, and a lighter pink is white meat or skin.
Measure the color of your poultry product at each stage of production to identify any two-toned areas and ensure its quality.
Cook and Measure the Color of Your Poultry Product
Even if you primarily sell raw poultry products, it's important to test that their color comes out as intended when cooked. Safely cooked poultry varies from white to pink to tan but ultimately depends on its internal temperature.
Measure your final product's color before and after cooking to see how your consumers will view it once they have it in their homes. Quality assurance develops trust between a brand and its consumers.
Accurately Evaluate Quality With the MiniScan EZ 4500
The human eye is prone to human error, as everyone sees color differently. To assist companies in keeping color consistent across all poultry products, HunterLab designs spectrophotometers to accurately quantify color data. Using a spectrophotometer streamlines your color measurement process, helping you build team and company efficiency.
Specifically, the MiniScan EZ 4500 is the highest-recommended spectrophotometer for poultry color measurements. This handheld device makes it easy to measure both large and small samples of poultry against commonly used color scales and indices with an easy-to-read LCD display. It's also simple to hook up to a computer to download data or connect to a printer to save hard copies for later access.
INFO Get More Information
Achieve Precise Quality Control With HunterLab Solutions
HunterLab has over 70 years of experience being an industry leader in color measurement solutions. Research, develop, and maintain consistency in your poultry products with our easy-to-use spectrophotometers, all CE-certified for full-scale production use.
To learn more about the MiniScan EZ 4500 or any of our other products, contact HunterLab today!
