The Problem of Dark-Cutting in Beef

Session I: Quality Aspects.- The Occurrence, Causes and Economic Consequences of Dark-Cutting in Beef — A Survey of Current Information.- Beef Quality, Marketing and the Consumer.- Session II: Muscle Metabolism and Animal Physiology.- Muscle Metabolic Type and the DFD Condition.- Control Mechanisms for the Enzymes of Glycogen Metabolism in Muscle.- Characteristics of the Metabolism of Carbohydrate in Ruminants Compared with Other Mammals.- Session III: Animal Behaviour and the Environment.- Environmental and Behavioural Influences on the Supply of Energy for Muscle during Life and Consequences Post Mortem.- Behaviour of Domestic Cattle under Modern Management Techniques.- Animal Welfare in Relation to Transport, Lairage and Slaughter in Cattle (A Review).- Session IV: Genetic Influences on Meat Quality.- Hereditary Aspects of Susceptibility to Stress in Meat Animals.- Double-Muscling and Sensitivity to Stress.- Session V: Identification and Prevention of Dark-Cutting.- Preventive Treatments during the Pre-Slaughter Period.- Early Identification of the DFD Condition in Pre-Rigor Beef Carcasses.- Electrical Stimulation of Ante Mortem Stressed Beef.- Animal Stress and Its Effect on Rigor Mortis Development in Labs.- Identification and Minimisation of DFD in Young Bulls in Denmark.- Session VI: Microbiological, Technological and Organoleptic Properties.- Microbiology of DFD Beef.- Translucency and Colour Defects of Dark-Cutting Meat and Their Detection.- Eating Quality of DFD Beef.- Practical Aspects of the Use of Dark Firm Dry (DFD) Meat.- Poster Presentations.- Influence of Holding Animals before Slaughtering.- Post Mortem Muscle Biochemistry and Beef Quality.- Influence of Temperature, Fasting and Transportation.- Effects of Transportation and Pre-Slaughter Holding onSome Blood Parameters and on Meat Quality in Fattening Bulls.- Development of Special Feeds for Young Bulls Kept in Overnight Lairages.- Selective Glycogen Depletion and Recovery in Skeletal Muscles Fibre Types of Young Bulls Subjected to a Behavioural Stress.- The Breakdown of Muscle Glycogen during Behavioural Stress in Normal and Beta-Adrenoreceptor Blocked Young Bulls.- Factors Influencing Muscle Glycogen Synthesis after Adrenaline Induced Depletion in Beef Heifers.- Some Odours Produced by Bacteria on High pH and Normal Beef.- The Incidence of Dark-Cutting Beef in Young Bulls in Finland.- The Use of Freeze-Drying in Investigations on the Microbiology of Vacuum-Packed DFD Beef.- Poster Discussion.- Summary.- List of Participants.