Quality in organic, low-input and conventional pig production

It has been said that quality, like beauty, is in the eyes of the beholder . Thus, quality has different meanings for different people, and the interests of one particular group may conflict with those of others. The attributes included 

In general, quality is assessed by quantifiable traits that are more or less related to specific attributes of the product and the production process. Moreover, the assessment depends on the information delivered by the sensory organs. Information is filtered and evaluated by the brain depending on the specific information provided but also on the concept of understanding that already exists in the cerebral cortex (Singer, 2000). A mental representation of a sensory event can shape neural processes that underlie the formulation of the actual sensory experience. Thus, the subjective sensory experience is shaped by interactions between expectations and incoming sensory information. 

Pork is the product of a very complex process. All the various characteristics of pork quality cannot be assessed directly in each carcass because these measurements and assessments would be too expensive. Therefore, previous scientific quality assessment of meat is primarily an indirect approach based on a few easily detectable quantitative traits and on the prescription of minimal standards in relation to the product in terms of size or composition and in relation to the production process. The prescriptions and the exclusion criteria vary between countries or between labelling programmes. The most encompassing prescriptions are enshrined in the EC regulation on organic livestock production (EEC No. 2092/91). Owing to this approach, extreme deviations in quality traits and deleterious effects are prevented. However, there is still space left within these framework conditions for huge variability in pork quality. 

Characteristics Individual elements Examples Characteristics Individual elements Examples 

Safety Pathogens Salmonella Wholesomeness Welfare aspects 

---