Anabolic agents and meat quality: A review

This review considers the results of more than sixty studies on the possible effects of anabolic agents on the meat quality parameters of the three main red meat species and poultry. The information is grouped into three main sections: carcass composition, muscle quality and eating quality. Each section is further divided by animal species, with consideration given to differences due to sex or age. Anabolic agents appear to have some effect on the carcass composition of animals; depending upon the type used, they can cause an increase in the ratio of muscle to fat in female and castrate animals, or a decrease in this ratio in entire males. Such differences are usually reflected in related changes in the chemical composition of the meat. Few consistent effects, however, have been reported in the eating quality of the cooked meat in terms of texture, flavour, juiciness or cooking loss, indicating that the basic eating quality attributes important to the consumer are largely unaffected by hormone treatment.