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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BHNRC) » Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center » Food for Health of People and the Environment Lab » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #423008
Research Project: FoodData Central

Location: Food for Health of People and the Environment Lab

Title: Impact of food service cooking on the yield and fat content of commercial ground meats and a plant-based meat substitute

Author
item ACEVEDO-ESTUPINAN, MARIA - University Of Massachusetts, Amherst
item BAYRAM, IPEK - University Of Massachusetts, Amherst
item ALAMED, JEAN - University Of Massachusetts, Amherst
item CANTELLE, C - University Of Massachusetts
item ONG, ALEXANDER - University Of Massachusetts, Amherst
item TOONG, KEN - University Of Massachusetts, Amherst
item McKillop, Kyle
item Fukagawa, Naomi
item DECKER, ERIC - University Of Massachusetts, Amherst

Submitted to: Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/13/2025
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Data on cooking yields of different food products is critical for accurately calculating food composition and nutritional changes after food processing/cooking. Ground meats are known to undergo significant yield changes during cooking. This work investigates the changes in yield, fat and moisture content of ground beef, pork, chicken, turkey and a plant-based meat product cooked in a food service facility. The results show a strong relationship between initial fat content of the meat with yield with higher fat content resulting in decreased yield. It was also observed that in meats with lower fat content, moisture loss had a greater impact on yield than fat loss. The findings of this study will help in the calculation of nutritional content of cooked meat and may help in the use of future technologies such as artificial intelligence to estimate the nutritional content of meats.

Technical Abstract: Collecting data on cooking yields of different food products is critical for accurately calculating food composition and nutritional changes after food processing. Ground meat is a good example of a food product that will undergo significant yield changes during cooking. This manuscript investigates yield changes as well as changes in fat and moisture content of ground beef, pork, chicken, turkey and a plant-based meat product cooked in a food service facility. The findings demonstrated a strong relationship between initial fat content of the meat with yield with higher fat content resulting in decreased yield. It was also observed that in meats with lower fat content, moisture loss had a greater impact on yield than fat loss. The findings of this study will help in the calculation of nutritional content of cooked meat and may help in the use of future technologies such as artificial intelligence to estimate the nutritional content of meats.