QUALITY ASSESSMENTOF REINDEER MEAT

R.B, Swanson1, M,P. Penfleld2, D, Mitchell2,M.J. Retaann2* and H*D. Loveday2

Division of Resources ManagementAgricultural and Forestry Experiment Station,

University of Alaska Fairbanks

2Dept. Food Technology and ScienceAgricultural Experiment Station

The University of Tennessee

Agricultural and Forestry Experiment StationSchool of Agriculture and

Land Resources ManagementUniversity of Alaska Fairbanks

Circular 78 February 1990

Introduction

Historically, sales of exotic meats have beenlimited only by supply. As supply has increased inrecent years, national and international exotic gamemarkets have grown rapidly. In the United States,growth has occurred primarily in the restaurant sec-tion, although over-the-counter sales have also in-creased.

The Alaskan reindeer industry is exploring thepotential of expanding its meat sales as well as antlersales. Meat production increased from 320,000pounds in 1987 to 432,000 pounds in 1988. This pro-duction increase is reflected in a 27 percent increasein dollar value (Alaska Crop and Livestock ReportingService, 1989). Under current management proce-dures, potential meat production has been estimatedat 500,000 pounds (Pearson and Lewis, 1988). Anyfuture market expansion is likely to occur in urbanAlaska and in areas outside the state (Jones, 1988).

Evidence exists that some consumers are willing

to pay premium prices for reindeer. In one specialitymeat market, New Yorkers paid $14,97 per pound in1987. Prices of reindeer in speciality food catalogsrange from $12.00 to $45,OO per pound (Jones, 1988).Consumers are placing less emphasis than in the paston cost as the primary deciding factor in food pur-chases. However, these consumers do expect to obtainvalue for each dollar spent (McNutt, 1988). Value hasbecome synonymous with quality.

Quality has been identified as the major key tosuccess and growth in today's food industry. "If theconsumer's demand for quality is not met, loyalty willbe transferred to another competitive product" (Martin,1988). Scandinavian and Canadian reindeer and NewZealand red deer compete with Alaskan reindeer innational and international markets. Thus, successfulentry and maintenance of market share will be de-pendent on the quality characteristics of the Alaskanreindeer meat. Nutritional content and safety areamong the quality characteristics that are increasinglyimportant to consumers (McNutt, 1988). Becausegrowth of meat sales beyond the traditional markets inrural Alaska has been hampered by the decreasedmarketability of the reindeer forequarter (Jones, 1988),this primal (wholesale) cut was used in this study.The forequarter comprises approximately 45 percent ofthe carcass weight (Zhigunov, 1961).

Materials and Methods

Six representative reindeer forequarters wereobtained from commercial sources in March 1989,The forequarters, which had been harvested during the

spring handling on the Seward Peninsula, wereshipped under typical conditions to The University ofTennessee for the study. The samples were allowed tothaw for 48 hours at 2 degrees C prior to analyses.Swab tests were conducted to determine the AerobicPlate Count (AfC) on the forequarter surfaces.

Composite samples from the forequarters wereanalyzed for moisture and fat levels (AOAC, 1984).Approximate protein content was calculated by differ-ence. Fatty acid composition was also determined(AOCS, 1975).

Results and Discussion

Nutritional quality

Nutritional attributes of food products havealtered food selection and consumption patterns asevidenced by the decreased consumption of domesticred meats and Increased consumption of fish andpoultry. Fish and poultry are usually lower in total fatas well as saturated fat content. These changes havebeen linked to increasing consumer awareness of therelationship between fat consumption and health(Breidenstein, 1988).

Fat, moisture, and protein content of the rein-deer forequarters are shown in Table 1; USDA (1975,1983, 1986) data for similar beef, pork, and lamb cutsare included for comparison. Reindeer had a proteincontent that ranged from 2.7 to 7,6 percent higherthan that reported for domestic red meats. The fatcontent of the reindeer forequarter varied with retailcut. The shoulder portion had little external fat cover,

Table 1—Composition of soft tissue0 from reindeerand domestic redmeats.

Meat Moisture f%) Fat f%l Protein f%l

Reindeer flean with fat. raw)b

Shoulder muscle 74.72+, 12 3.56+.08 22

Composite forequarter cutsc 1 70.01+. 11 9.15+.06 212 69.21+.46 10.09+.41 21

Beef flean and fat. raw)d

Chuck blade roast (USDAChoiee) 58.2 24.4 16.6Chuck blade roast (USDA Select) 61.1 2O.8 17.OShortribs (USDA Choice) 48.3 36.2 14.4

Beef flean only. rawldChuck blade roast (USDA Choice) 70.4 9.5 19.2Chuck blade roast (USDA Select) 71.8 7.7 19.2

Pork (separable lean only. freshlc

Shoulder (whole) 72.1 7.9 19.3

Lamb flean with fat. rawlfShoulder 59.6 23.9 15.3Leg 64.8 16.2 17.8

aSoft tissue includes lean plus fat. bMean ± SD from 2 replicates;samples from Alaskan reindeer forequarters, 'Primarily shank and ribsoft tissue with small amounts of shoulder meat. dFrom USDA, 1986."From USDA, 1983. f From USDA, 1975.

which resulted in a very low fat content and a highermoisture content. The composite samples whichincluded soft tissue taken primarily from the ribs andshank, exhibited a fat content approximately 2,5times that of the shoulder muscle. These higher fat

samples included the external fat which surroundedthe ribs as well as the intramuscular fat present.

Fat content of the domestic red meats differedwith species and retail cut. Reindeer shoulder musclehad less fat than did the lean cuts of the beef chuckblade roasts, lean pork shoulder, and lamb cuts. Thecomposite reindeer sample had considerably less fatthan did beef chuck with fat and beef short ribs.

The reindeer fatty acid profile (Table 2) revealedlower levels of unsaturated fatty acids than are foundin domestic red meat animals (Dugan, 1987). The rela-tive proportion of unsaturated fatty acids was increasedwhen external fat was incorporated. In this compositesample, the reindeer fatty acid composition, like that ofthe domestic red meat animals, was rich in stearic, pal-imitic, and oleic acids. Although the shoulder muscle,

Table 2 — Percentage of selected fatty acids in rein-deer forequarters.

Fattyacid

14:016:O16:118:O18:OI18:118:218:320:O20:122:O22:124:O

Reindeer foreauarterShoulder

33.519.74.1

12.94.3

13.13.71.53.02.22.O

1

Composite

3.438.4

•

23.8

29.92.10.30.30.40.9O.20.1

which contained only intramuscular fat, was also highin these fatty acids, myristic was present in the great-est quantity. Longer chained fatty acids also com-prised a greater percentage of the fatty acids present inthis lean sample. Among domestic red meat animals,fatty acid composition is influenced by animal age, dietand environment (Dugan, 1987). Similar effects onreindeer fatty acid composition are likely to occur.

Despite the higher saturated fat content of rein-deer, consumers who eat reindeer rather than anequal-sized portion of beef, lamb or pork will consumemuch lower levels of saturated fats due to the lowertotal fat content. Indeed, the saturated fat content ofthe reindeer was within the same range reported forpoultry and fish (Linscheer and Vergroesen, 1988).Therefore, the inherent nutritional attributes of rein-deer should appeal to health-conscious consumers.

Safety, particularly microbiological safety, likenutritional content has become an essential qualityfactor for all foodstuffs (McNutt, 1988). Recently, con-sumer concerns about the safety of muscle food prod-ucts have led to the introduction of legislation to re-quire mandatory inspection of seafood as well asdomestic red meats and poultry. The exotic animalinspection regulation has also been extended to rein-deer. Consumers want some assurance that the prod-uct available for purchase is safe and wholesome.

Meat is essentially sterile at the time of slaugh-ter. However, the necessary skinning, evisceration, andcutting exposes the carcass to large numbers of natu-rally occurring microorganisms. The level of contami-

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nation differs with the processing and handling proce-dures employed (Niven, 1987).

Slaughter of Alaskan reindeer occurs underarctic field conditions. After the reindeer are killed,the carcass is split, and internal organs are removed.Typically, the hide is also removed. The carcass isallowed to hang for one to 12 hours prior to wrappingin gauze for shipment to Nome for final processing andsale. Only the final cutting and sales are completed inan indoor facility.

Aerobic Plate Count (APC), an indication of thedegree of contamination present, is reported in Table3. Low levels of microorganisms were found on thereindeer forequarters (2.34 log APC/in2to 3,39 logAPC/in2). These values are considerably lower thanthe typical range of 4,8 log APC/in2 to 7.8 log APC/in2

from beef (Ayres et al, 1980) The low arctic air tem-

APC/in

Table 3— Microbiological counts on selected reindeerforequarter surfaces*

Surface

Outer surface, left legCarcass, cut surfaceNeck surfaceNeck surfaceNeck, cut surfaceShoulder surfaceDiaphragm muscle, rib sectionExterior surface, ribInterior surface, sternumExterior surface, sternumExterior surface, sternumLD muscle, cut surface

2.952.702.782.472.342.532.603.372.403,003.173.39

peratures (usually around -23 degrees C) inhibited thegrowth of bacteria on the fresh meat. The relativelyquick freezing of the carcasses further limited thegrowth of microorganisms by reducing water activity.Therefore, the field-harvesting techniques used yieldeda product that was safe and wholesome.

Concluding Remarks

Two attributes important in the consumer'sassessment of quality were studied. Although con-sumers may have questions about microbiological con-tamination of field-harvested reindeer, the forequartersstudied were safe and wholesome. From a nutritionalperspective, Alaskan reindeer should appeal to health-conscious consumers who wish to reduce their fatintake while consuming red meat, The forequartersevaluated were representative of animals harvestedduring the spring handling; different results may befound if animals slaughtered during handlings at othertimes of the year were studied.

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References

AOAC. 1984. "Official Methods of Analysis," 14th ed.Association of Offlcal Analytical Chemists, Washing-ton, DC.

AOCS. 1975. "Official and Tentative Methods of theAmerican Oil Chemists Society/' American Oil Chem-ists Society, Champaign, IL,

Alaska Crop and Livestock Reporting Service. 1989."Alaska Agricultural Statistics." National StatisticalReporting Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture,Palmer, AK,

Ayres, J.C., Mundt, J.O. and Sandine, W.E. 1980.Meat and meat products, In: "Microbiology of Foods."W.H. Freeman and Co., San Francisco.

Breidenstein, B.C. 1988. Changes in consumer atti-tudes toward red meat and their effect on marketingstrategy. FoodTechnol. 42(1): 112.

Dugan, L.R., Jr. 1987. Chemistry of animal tissues.Part 2. Fats. In: "The Science of Meat and Meat Prod-ucts," 3rd ed. Price, J.F. and Schweigert, B.S., eds.,Food and Nutrition Press, Inc., Westport, CT,

Jones, C., ed. 1988. Summary report: Alaska rein-deer marketing conference. School of Agriculture andLand Resources Management and Cooperative Exten-sion Service, University of Alaska Fairbanks.

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Linscheer, W.G. and Vergroesen, A.J. 1988. Lipids. In:"Modern Nutrition in Health and Disease," 7th ed.Shils, M.E. and Young, V.R., eds., Lea & Febiger,Philadelphia,

Martin, R. 1988. Contaminants in relation to the qual-ity of seafood. Food Technol. 42(12): 104.

McNutt, K. 1988, Consumer attitudes and the qualitycontrol function. Food Technol, 42(12): 94.

Niven, C.F., Jr. 1987. Microbiology and parasitology ofmeat. Part 1. Microbiology, In: "The Science of Meatand Meat Products/ 3rd ed. Price, J.F. and Schweig-ert, B.S., eds,, Food and Nutrition Press, Inc., West-port, CT.

Pearson, R.W, and Lewis, C,E. 1988. The local agricul-tural industry in Alaska since statehood. Presentationat the Annual meeting of the Assoc. Amer. Geogra-phers, Portland, OR.

USDA. 1986. "Composition of foods. Beef Products—Raw, Processed, Prepared," Agricultural Handbook 8-13. Human Nutrition Information Services, UnitedStates Dept. Agriculture, Washington, DC,

USDA, 1983, "Composition of foods, Pork Products-Raw, Processed, Prepared, "Agricultural Handbook 8-1O. Human Nutrition Information Services, UnitedStates Dept. Agriculture, Washington, DC.

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USDA. 1975. "Nutritive Value of American Foods,"Agriculture Handbook 456. Agricultural ResearchService, United States Dept. Agriculture, Washington,DC.

Zhigunov, P.S., ed. 1961. Slaughter of reindeer, pri-mary processing, storage and transportation of theproducts. In: "Reindeer Husbandry" (translated fromthe Russian). Published for United States Dept. of theInterior and National Science Foundation, Washington,DC. Published by Israel Program for Scientific Transla-tions.

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Agricultural and Forestry Experiment StationSchool of Agriculture and

Land Resources ManagementUniversity of Alaska Fairbanks

James V. Drew, Dean and Director

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