The incidence of watery muscle in commercial British pigs

Abstract

Measurements of the pH of the leg muscle approximately 45 min after slaughter (pH 1 ) have been made in 4737 commercial pigs slaughtered at eight factories in Great Britain. The values found lie on a single‐peaked distribution curve with a maximum at pH 6.4–6.5. No evidence was obtained of any marked influence on pH 1 distribution due to sex, weight or period of lairage. Indications of watery muscle were observed in about two per 1000 of the pigs examined. The distribution of watery muscle between factories was very irregular, most of the watery carcases being observed in a single factory.