Marbling/Grading

Each carcass is identified and the following information is recorded:

• Body number and lot number
• Carcass weight 
• Sex – male or female
• Tropical breed content – the hump height is also measured to guarantee the most accurate eating quality grade
• Hanging method – determined as being either Achilles hang or tenderstretch
• Hormonal growth promotants 
• Ossification – measured to determine carcass maturity
• Marbling – using both the MSA and AUS-MEAT measurement systems
• Rib fat – measured at the AUS-MEAT standard site. Overall fat cover is also assessed
• pH and temperature – pH is measured using a pH meter and must be below 5.71. The temperature should be below 12˚C, according to AUS-MEAT standards.
• Eye muscle area (EMA) – measured in square cm using an AUS-MEAT grid
• Fat color – recorded using AUS-MEAT chips from 0 (white) to 9 (yellow)
• Meat color – recorded using AUS-MEAT standard meat color chips.