Strategies to Improve Meat Quality and Safety

Meat quality refers to intrinsic attributes critical for the suitability of meat for eating, processing, and storage, including retail display.The main attributes of interest of meat are safety, nutritional value, sensorial properties, lipid composition, oxidative stability, and consistency. In recent years the meat market has undergone changes that require high standards of quality, so aspects related to environmental sustainability and animal welfare have become critical in meat production. In addition, there is growing awareness of the link between diet and health and this is reflected in the demand for more information and for products which are healthy and of consistently high quality. Therefore, meat quality and safety are becoming dynamic and challenging concerns which require the generation of new information and of continuous reevaluation of existing knowledge for meeting market’s demands by assuring high quality standards and prevention of recognized risks to human health. The papers included in this issue cover aspects of muscle biology and meat biochemistry and discuss factors affecting meat quality and sensory properties, contribution of beef to human health.