ARS | Publication request: Red discoloration of fully cooked poultry meat

Submitted to: World Poultry Congress Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: September 30, 2007
Publication Date: June 30, 2008
Citation: Smith, D.P., Northcutt, J.K. 2008. Red discoloration of fully cooked poultry meat. World Poultry Congress Proceedings. P. 823-826.

Technical Abstract: Red or bloody appearance of fully cooked poultry meat is a severe defect. Methods for inducing discoloration for further study, including control of and causes of red discoloration were determined. Cooked retail parts (n=274) showed approximately 11% discoloration and 0.4% bloodiness. To induce redness, blood, bone marrow, or primary spongiosa (PS) from femur metaphysis was cooked with chicken meat. PS was the only treatment producing a bloody appearance. Ingredients (non-fat dry milk, citric acid, ascorbic acid, or EDTA) were added to the meat and PS and cooked; EDTA and citric acid slightly lowered redness. Freezing femurs or cooking to a higher endpoint temperature (85 C) alleviated redness somewhat. A PS fraction extracted by centrifugation and dialysis indicated a water soluble molecule with a molecular weight between 12,000 and 25,000 produced the redness.