Classes

ADSC 1050 – The Meat We Eat

Course Currently Not Offered (2016)

Class Description

The Meat We Eat is a consumer oriented meat science course to help educate and inform students about where and how their meat gets from the ranch to the grocery store and then to their dinner plate.  The Meat We Eat will cover a wide range of topics centered around red meat production including: A history of red meat consumption, animals used in meat production, how muscle turns into meat, the use of by-products in society, meat grading, meat palatability, meat inspection in the United States, meat safety, processed meat products and ingredients, retail meat identification, meat purchasing and how to estimate value, preparation and cooking of meat products, the role of red meat in the human diet and health, and current topics .  It is also planned to have two sessions where students will have the ability to try different types of fresh meat (beef, pork and lamb), and a variety of meat products that are considered processed meats.

Objectives

By the end of this course students should have a better understanding of where their food comes from and how meat can contribute to a healthy and satisfactory lifestyle.  Students should also understand how value is placed on meat products and how to properly select, handle, and cook meat for safe and enjoyable experience.

ADSC 3650L – Meat Science

Class Description

This course has a focus on the meat industry, role of muscle foods in the human diet, meat inspection, muscle structure and function, conversion of muscle to meat, anatomy, factory influencing meat quality, meat processing, and meat safety and quality control.  This class will give a comprehensive overview from meat animal production through processed meat products with a focus on the scientific background that is transforming the way we feed millions of people every day.

Objectives

1. To impart knowledge relating the live animal to its ultimate value as a food product.
2. To relate breeding, feeding, selection, and management to changes in ultimate composition of meat animal products.
3. To develop technological and manipulative skills in the slaughter and catting of meat animals and the processing of meat products.
4. To relate research results regarding animal production to actual changes in the dollare value of its product.
5. To gain insight into the efficient marketing of animals and their products.
6. To introduce anatomy, muscle structure and function, chemical composition and physical characteristics of carcasses and cuts as determinates of live animal and meat quality.
7. To teach the skills of carcass, wholesale, and retail cut identification to facilitate trading meat products in domestic and export markets.

Course Material

ADSC 6890 – Advanced Meat Science

This course is also offered online for non-UGA students through AgIdea.

Class Description

This is the first in a series of graduate meat science courses taught at UGA.  This course will cover the theories and methods used in meat science in determination of tissue growth; compositional techniques; muscle protein and lipid organization, structure, and function; biochemical conversion of muscle to meat, and its impact on meat quality and palatability in meat animals.

Course Topics

A-Introduction
B-Growth and Development
C-Composition
D-Muscle Structure
E-Muscle Contraction
F-Postmortem Conversion
G-Antemortem Factors
H-Meat Tenderness
I-Postmortem Control of Tenderness
J-Enzymes and Proteins
K-Water Holding Capacity
L-Composition and Yield
M-Lipids
N-Meat Color
O-Meat Cookery
P-Meat Palatability

Additional Items

Literature review
Topic Presentation
Critical Paper Review Leader