Sensory Science & The evaluation of meats - IFT’s muscle foods division

Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to talk with two meat science and sensory science experts: Jerrad Legako from Texas Tech University and Shannon Fekula from MMR (formerly Pilgrim’s) hosted by the great volunteers at IFT’s Muscle Foods Division. It was insightful and informative to talk with these two experts about the challenges which we face when designing research to evaluate meats and share some tips and techniques for everyone to learn from. We covered a lot of information, from expert panels, to consumer testing, to what you can do when your testing goes awry mid-research!

One of the key discussion points was the difference in the use of sensory research in industry vs. academia. Having supported sensory research for both, I know the challenges faced in each - and it was informative to hear Jerrad and Shannon’s perspectives on how they each utilize sensory research everyday, how they flex the techniques they’re using, and how they use sensory results to make important decisions for business and products. I learned a lot from the discussion and hope the linked post from Muscle Foods Division of IFT helps you think about the ways you can utilize sensory research for meat products and all products.

If you’re interested in talking with me about the sensory evaluation of meats and other proteins, please click the Contact us button above. I look forward to speaking with you!