Montreal Gazette - Device sheds light on meat quality; New technique cuts out guess work

A new scientific technique that uses light to detect premium meat could give Canadian food exporters a cut above the competition. Developed over the past five years by researchers at McGill University, the technique allows the texture and moistness of pork cuts to be determined by measuring the wavelengths of light they emit.

"This is a very interesting and potentially profitable breakthrough," said lead researcher Michael Ngadi, a food scientist will McGill's Department of Bioresource Engineering. According to Ngadi, the technique involves spectroscopy, a technique that analyzes the wavelengths of visible and invisible light that are produced by matter.