Consumer responses to pork loin chops with different degrees of muscle quality in two western Canadian cities

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Abstract
A total of 1115 consumers were interviewed at random as they passed through seven supermarkets in Calgary and eight in Edmonton, Alberta. Stores were strategically selected to be representative of all age, socioeconomic, and ethnic groups to the extent they were represented in the populations of these cities. Consumers were asked to evaluate the packages of pork loin chops in an array containing an equal number of packages from each of three muscle quality groups (pale, soft, exudative (PSE); normal; and dark, firm, dry (DFD)) and to rank them in their order of preference. Care was taken to ensure that all chops were equal in size and trimmed to a uniform fat thickness. In addition, consumers were asked to identify packages they would be unwilling to purchase and to give pertinent demographic information. Results indicated consumers most preferred DFD chops and least preferred PSE chops. However, some groups of consumers exhibited greatest preference for PSE chops, while others exhibited greatest preference for normal appearing chops. Although present findings for the majority of consumers coupled with previous findings regarding palatability suggest pork muscle quality standards should be revised to make DFD, but not extremely DFD, the highest quality group, Alberta results may not reflect consumer responses in other areas. Key words: Consumer response, quality, pork, western Canada

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