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Retail display case lighting applications

Fresh Meat Discoloration in Retail Meat Showcases

With continued exposure to light, oxymyoglobin and myoglobin oxidize (the iron atom loses an electron) to form metmyoglobin, a brown or gray pigment. Metmyoglobin is also produced when oxygen is no longer available at high concentrations because it has been absorbed by the meat during the blooming process and/or because it has been consumed by aerobic bacteria as they grow.

This oxidation and discoloration occurs in equilibrium with the oxygenation reaction that causes fresh meat to bloom and for a time is reversible, with all three pigments found in fresh meat at any given time. But as the meat ages and the reducing enzymes become exhausted, the formation of the brown metmyoglobin pigment can no longer be reversed, and the fresh meat’s appealing red or pink bloom is replaced by an unappetizing and permanent brown or grey color.

Meat pigment oxidation is initiated when the light source emits high levels of certain wavelengths of the spectrum that match Soret bands, wavelengths that are characteristically absorbed by myoglobin. Ultraviolet and yellow light are strongly absorbed by myoglobin, so any light source that emits high levels of these wavelengths will tend to accelerate the rate of meat decomposition.

Various studies have confirmed that ultraviolet light leads to the discoloration of meat by accelerating the production of metmyoglobin. Light is so crucial to this decomposition process that when packaged meat from the same animal are stacked in a refrigerated meat display case, the packages that are kept in relative darkness at the bottom of the pile will remain red or pink, while the packages at the top that are exposed to the meat display lighting will soon turn brown.

The intensity of the damaging wavelengths of light, especially 254 nm UV wavelengths and 560 to 630 nm yellow wavelengths, and the extent to which the meat package is light permeable determine the rate of meat discoloration caused by photooxidation.

Other factors that influence the rate of metmyoglobin production are the temperature of the meat, the amount of oxygen available, and the amount of bacteria present. However, even frozen beef displayed at -25° C will discolor as the myoglobin continues to oxidize under display case lighting.

For meat science references and excerpts click here.

COLOR OF FRESH MEAT IN RETAIL DISPLAYS
As consumers select meat, they are strongly influenced by their first impression, which comes from the meat’s color. The color of fresh meat is determined by the pigment myoglobin, which undergoes various chemical reactions to form other pigments. These reactions are triggered by light, heat, and oxygen availability. <more...>

FRESH MEAT BLOOMING IN GROCERY STORE MERCHANDISERS
Within half an hour of exposure to oxygen and light, fresh meat blooms: myoglobin becomes oxygenated forming oxymyoglobin, a characteristically red pigment that causes the meat to turn from purple to the appropriate shade of red or pink. <more...>

FRESH MEAT DISCOLORATION IN RETAIL MEAT SHOWCASES
With continued exposure to light, the fresh meat’s appealing red or pink bloom is replaced by an unappetizing and permanent brown or grey color. This change is initiated when the light source emits high levels of ultraviolet and yellow wavelengths, which accelerates the rate of meat decomposition. <more>

TEMPERATURE AND FRESH MEAT COLOR IN SUPERMARKET MEAT CABINETS
Regular display case lighting emits heat, as well as radiation that is transformed into heat when it is trapped within the meat’s packaging, and can increase the surface temperature of displayed meat, encouraging the exponential growth of bacteria. <more...>

PH AND FRESH MEAT COLOR IN GROCERY STORE MEAT CABINETS
If the pH of fresh meat drops too rapidly or is at a very low level, the meat becomes pale, soft, and exudative (PSE), and if the pH does not drop at all or is at a high level, the meat becomes dark, firm, and dry (DFD). <more...>