Variation in weights of primal pork cuts

The payment system used in Australia uses the weight of the carcase and fat depth at the P2 site to determine the price per kg carcase weight paid to producers. This economic incentive for a specific weight range and a higher overall lean meat content in the carcase has resulted in larger and leaner cuts available to consumers across Australia in comparison to pork cuts available in the 1980s and 1990s (Müller et al., 2009). The study also found only small differences in the lean meat content of pork cuts between states and areas of different socio-economic status ‘due to breeding and feeding for large, lean pigs by the Australian pig industry’ as the authors concluded. While the variation in the proportion of lean in each raw cut was modest, considerable variation was observed in the weight of cuts, fat thickness and slice thickness due to differing butchering practices. This aspect of variability has been addressed by Australian Pork Limited (APL, 2012) by providing the PorkStar training manual which outlines the various retail cuts in detail.