Color classification of veal carcasses : Past, present, and future

In The Netherlands, veal carcasses are classified on color, conformation and fatness. In the past 20 years, major efforts have been put into the development of a reliable color classification system. Initially, the color of the musculus rectus abdominis was visually matched to a 10-point scale. Later on, the visual classification was replaced by instrumental classification. A handheld tri-stimulus colorimeter measures XYZ values which are converted into a color class on the 10-point scale. The algorithms underlying this conversion were derived from comparison of the measured L*a*b* values with the visually assigned color classes. At present, the quality and stability of the color measurements have been improved by new instruments, by using an additional calibration tile and an improved quality control procedure. Also, a new algorithm was developed to convert XYZ measurements into a color class. This algorithm is based on the conventional ΔE color difference metric and was tuned for optimal performance with respect to historical databases containing visual classifications. In the future, we expect to further benefit from technological breakthroughs in color measurement.