Meat-ing shelf-life need

SCIENTISTS at the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture (TIA) are working with Meat and Livestock Australia to support the red meat industry to achieve its food security and sustainability objectives. 

The project seeks to expand on existing predictive models of vacuum-packed red meat in supply chains, maximise shelf life and has led to the development of a user-friendly application (app). 

Project lead Dr Jay Kocharunchitt and his team have developed the tool that will be able to predict red meat’s shelf life and allow those in the red meat industry to use the data to extend the shelf life of products. 

He said issues such as poor temperature control in shipment can affect the quality of meat, reduce shelf life, and lead to financial loss for the industry. 

TIA said that the new app is a support tool that innovates the Australian red meat industry by monitoring and managing cold chains for various products. 

Based on their research, Dr Kocharunchitt says the study was able to provide a 9.1 million per annum profit to a domestic red meat retailer. “The red meat industry is very important for the Australian economy,” Dr Kocharunchitt said. 

“We are one of the largest exporters of red meat and we export to over a hundred countries in the world so reducing wastage is important for the sustainability of the industry.” 

With the knowledge Dr Kocharunchitt’s team have come up with, they have been able to achieve longer shelf life for beef and are currently working on extending shelf life of vacuum-sealed lamb. 

“At an ideal temperature, vacuumed packed beef can last up to 180 days and lamb is currently at 90 days, so lamb is what we’ve been focusing on,” Dr Kocharunchitt said. 

The success of the app will mean people in the industry can see how best to manage their meat products. “The app can also allow people in the industry to show stores and customers that they will meet a certain specification based on their shelf-life based on the individual numbers,” Dr Kocharunchitt said. 

“This means less financial loss to the red meat industry, less waste and it will help maintain a quality reputation of the red meat producers.” 

App users will be able to enter the type of red meat product, packaging type, temperature, date and bacterial number into the app to get a summary of how to store it properly and at what temperature to prolong its shelf life. 

It can also display the difference in the days meat would last at different temperatures. 

TIA stated the app will be available to the public soon.