Best Practices for Measuring the Colour of Poultry

Appearance is the first factor consumers judge when purchasing meat products — especially poultry. Consumers often rely on consistent colour for poultry safety and freshness. Here are some tips when testing poultry colour for meat acceptability.

Identify Differences in Raw Poultry Colour

When searching for quality meat, consumers judge the appearance of raw poultry, and its colour 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 colour 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 colour of your poultry product at each stage of production to identify any two-toned areas and ensure its quality.

Cook and Measure the Colour of Your Poultry Product

Even if you primarily sell raw poultry products, it's important to test that their colour 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 colour 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 colour differently. To assist companies in keeping colour consistent across all poultry products, HunterLab designs spectrophotometers to accurately quantify colour data. Using a spectrophotometer streamlines your colour measurement process, helping you build team and company efficiency.

Specifically, the MiniScan EZ 4500 is the highest-recommended spectrophotometer for poultry colour measurements. This handheld device makes it easy to measure both large and small samples of poultry against commonly used colour 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.

Achieve Precise Quality Control With HunterLab Solutions

HunterLab has over 70 years of experience being an industry leader in colour 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!