Industrial Applications of Electrical Stimulation

Abstract

The industrial application of electrical stimulation in slaughter plants in the United States and throughout the world has been phenomenal. According to Savell et al. (1980), some of the benefits of using electrical stimulation realized by meat packers include improved tenderness of meat, brighter lean color, more rapid setup of marbling after ribbing, less “heat-ring” development and reduced postmortem aging requirements for assurance of tender meat (color photographs delineating the improvement in lean color and prevention of heat-ring by electrical stimulation are included in a bulletin by Stiffler et al. 1982). These benefits along with the low relative costs at which electrical stimulation can be incorporated into slaughter plants have influenced both large and small slaughter facilities to adopt this procedure. In many slaughter plants, electrical stimulation has become an integral part of the process of converting live animals to meat and meat products.

Technical Article 18044 from the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station. Reference to commercial products or trade names is made with the understanding that no discrimination is intended and no endorsement by the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station is implied.