This lively book examines recent trends in animal product consumption and diet; reviews industry efforts, policies, and programs aimed at improving the nutritional attributes of animal products; and offers suggestions for further research. In addition, the volume reviews dietary and health recommendations from major health organizations and notes specific target levels for nutrients.

"Livestock production systems will only be sustained in the long term if their products continue to meet the demand of consumers. The quality of ruminant carcasses, meat and meat products is of predominant importance in a competitive market where consumers tend to have a preconceived idea about the criteria that define meat quality such as flavour, tenderness, juiciness, smell, colour and texture. The carcass evaluation could be interesting as a precocious classification of the final quality of meat coming from each carcass. Today the quality characteristics of the meat must be different according to its utilisation (supermarket, butcher, catering, refectory, etc.) and so it is very important to choose very early the final destination of the carcass. Obviously, the carcass classification must correlate with meat quality characteristics required by final consumer. Other important factors that have to be taken into account in order to maintain a demand for ruminant meat are safety and traceability. This book reviews the historical and recent developments for carcass evaluation and grading for meat quality assessment in beef and sheep. It places special emphasis on new concepts and approaches to define carcass and meat quality and on the use of modern technologies for composition and quality evaluation. A range of technologies are presented such as ultrasounds and colour reflectance, X-ray computerised tomography, spectral and thermal imaging, image analysis and NIRS. The use of phenotypic markers such as the plasma hormones and genetic markers to predict carcass composition and meat quality are also presented."

This volume provides a comprehensive overview of goat keeping and farming. It includes twenty-two chapters that address such topics as breeding and selection, goat reproduction, production systems, the effects of goat farming on the environment, the use of goat byproducts, the economics of goat farming, and much more.

Meat is a global product, which is traded between regions, countries and continents. The onus is on producers, manufacturers, transporters and retailers to ensure that an ever-demanding consumer receives a top quality product that is free from contamination. With such a dynamic product and market place, new innovative ways to process, package and assess meat products are being developed. With ever increasing competition and tighter cost margins, industry has shown willingness to engage in seeking novel innovative ways of processing, packaging and assessing meat products while maintaining quality and safety attributes. This book provides a comprehensive overview on the application of novel processing techniques. It represents a standard reference book on novel processing, packaging and assessment methods of meat and meat products. It is part of the IFST Advances in Food Science book series.

This comprehensive work explores the demand, supply and variable consumer attitude toward a wide variety of unconventional and exotic animal species that are consumed in different parts of the world. Individual chapters focus on the consumption of horse meat, camel, buffalo, sheep, rabbit, wild boar, deer, goose, pheasant and exotic meats such as alligator, snake, frog and turtle. For each type of animal species, the carcass characteristics, physico-chemical properties and nutritional value of the meat are extensively outlined. The consumer preference, behavior and perception of each type of meat are also covered, with focus on important factors from sensory properties to psychological and marketing aspects. In promoting a better understanding of the complexities involved in consumer decision making, this book aims to improve the competitiveness of the meat industry through effective informational strategies that can increase consumer acceptance of more convenient, healthy and environmentally friendly meat choices. More than Beef, Pork and Chicken – The Production, Processing, and Quality Traits of Other Sources of Meat for Human Diet also focuses on the important role meat plays in the human diet and the evolution of the species. Beneficial factors such as protein, B complex vitamins, zinc, selenium and phosphorus are detailed. Negative factors are discussed as well, with issues such as fat and fatty acid content being addressed for each type of meat presented. In exploring the full range of nutritional benefits, consumer acceptance and carcass characteristics in a large quantity of different types of animal meats from all over the world, this book offers incredible value to researchers looking for a single source on unconventional meat processing.

Food safety is a major problem around the world, both with regard to human suffering and with respect to economic costs. Scientific advances have increased our knowledge surrounding the nutritional characteristics of foods and their effects on health. This means that a large proportion of consumers are much more conscious with respect to what they eat and their demands for quality food. Food quality is a complex term that includes, in addition to safety, other intrinsic characteristics, such as appearance, color, texture and flavor, and also extrinsic characteristics, such as perception or involvement.

'This book is well organized and extremely informative ' The Cornell Veterinarian, Oct. 1987

The INRA Feeding System for Ruminants has been renewed to better address emerging challenges for animal nutrition: prevision of productive responses, product quality, animal health and emissions to the environment, in a larger extent of breeding contexts. The new system is mainly built from meta-analyses of large data bases, and modelling. The dietary supply model accounts for digestive interactions and flows of individual nutrients, so that feed values depend on the final ration. Animal requirements account for variability in metabolic efficiency. Various productive and non-productive animal responses to diets are quantified. This book presents the whole system for dairy and meat, large and small ruminant production, including specificities for tropical and Mediterranean areas. The first two sections present biological concepts and equations (with their field of application and statistical accuracy) used to predict intake (including at grazing) and nutrient supply (Section 1), animal’s requirements and multiple responses to diets (Section 2). They apply to net energy, metabolisable protein and amino acids, water, minerals and vitamins. Section 3 presents the use of concepts and equations in rationing with two purposes: (1) diet calculation for a given performance objective; and (2) prediction of the multiple responses of animal to diet changes. Section 4 displays the tables of feed values, and their prevision. All the equations and concepts are embedded in the fifth version of INRAtion® software for practical use.

Forage in Ruminant Nutrition is the 12th text in a series of books about animal feeing and nutrition. The series is intended to keep readers updated on the developments occurring in these fields. As it is apparent that ruminant animals are important throughout the world because of the meat and milk they produce, knowledge about the feeds available to ruminants must also be considered for increased production and efficiency. This text provides information that readers will find considerably invaluable about forage feeds, such as grass, legumes, hay, and straw. The book is composed of 16 chapters that feature the following concepts of ruminant forage feeding: • composition of ruminant products and the nutrients required for maintenance and reproduction; • energy and nutrient available in forage: calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, sodium, copper, iodine, zinc, manganese, selenium, and cobalt; • intake of forage by housed ruminants; • grazing; • forage digestibility; • protein in ruminant nutrition; • protein and other nutrient deficiencies. This volume will be an invaluable reference for students and professionals in agricultural chemistry and grassland and animal husbandry researches.

Three main factors affect the quality and composition of meat in farm animals. Production conditions determine the composition of the meat, while marketing and postmortem periods have a major bearing on the visual appearance and ultimate eating experience for the consumer. It is often difficult to compare research results from different countries since meat quality is assessed by a wide variety of procedures. Quality and Grading of Carcasses of Meat Animals reviews the development of commercial grading or classification schemes on a world-wide basis, and it provides a broad outline of the most common subjective and objective procedures for the assessment of meat quality. The book provides reviews on: Ante- and post-mortem effects on meat quality Reducing fatness in meat animals Prediction of carcass composition and meat quality World carcass and grading systems Electronic identification of animals