Redder chilled pork can come with texture and purge trade-offs

A newly published study on post-rigor chilled pork examines short gaseous nitric-oxide treatment before seven days of vacuum storage. Under the tested conditions, the treatment improved meat redness without increasing residual nitrite. At the same time, shear force and purge loss were higher than in the control group. The gain in colour therefore came with a measurable technological trade-off.