Color evaluation is an essential part of meat research, product development and troubleshooting of processing problems. When done properly, both visual and instrumental appraisals of color are powerful and useful research tools for meat scientists.
However, these evaluations must be conducted using carefully designed procedures to avoid artifacts or biased data. Although not everyone needs expert knowledge of myoglobin chemistry, color evaluators should have a general understanding of the biochemical and physical parameters regulating color and color perception.