Measuring the Fat Content of Beef

The fat content of beef is of considerable importance, both nutritionally and in terms of its perceived effects on eating qualities. Several methods of evaluating the fat content of beef carcasses and beef longissimus dorsi were compared, including chemical assay of the fat content of beef L.dorsi, carcass measurements made in the slaughterhouse and the dissection of a sample rib joint. The reliability of techniques used to measure fat content is very important and it is critical that different techniques which are thought to estimate the same parameter, i.e. total fat content, should in fact produce comparable results. The results from this study indicate, however, that the measurements of carcass fat made at slaughter and dissection agree well, although much lower levels of agreement were achieved between the carcass fat measurements and the chemical determination of the fat content in the L.dorsi. Discusses possible reasons for this.