Research at MSABD is constantly striving to improve the quality of meat products. Masters student Adam Franzen, a member of the lab of Dr. Jim Claus at MSABD, shares this same sentiment. Adam’s research looks at the tenderness and color of lamb and sheep meat after the meat has been exposed to Adam’s enhanced vascular rinse and chill process. Adam is nearing the end of his research project and plans to defend later this year (keep an eye out for the announcement of his defense seminar).

Adam’s enhanced rinse and chill process has several potential components, adding a solution to reduce the heme-iron favored by dangerous pathogens, a helpful virus known as a phage that infects and helps control dangerous pathogens, or a calcium chloride solution to speed the
beneficial aging process in the meat. The control for Adam’s research is the current Rinse & Chill ® vascular rinse treatment without any of Adam’s additives. Rinse & Chill ® (developed and owned by MPSC Inc.) is USDA approved and widely used commercially in the United States and Australia.

With Adam’s additives, the calcium chloride rinse activates certain enzymes responsible for meat aging, helping to tenderize the meat. If more enzymes are activated, the rate of the tenderizing can be enhanced. Adam’s research has shown the calcium chloride solution achieves the same improvements in tenderness that conventional aging achieves in one to two weeks in as little as three days postmortem. This has the potential to speed up the production process and reduce costs.

In addition to rinse and chill processes, Adam is studying applying an electric shock to meat to quickly reduce the pH level of the meat. Typically, the pH of meat goes from neutral (7) to 4-5 eventually. With electric shock, the pH drops from 7 to below 6, the ideal level for meat quality, in mere hours. The process burns freely available ATP and induces rigor mortis, which helps avoid the cold shortening that can reduce meat quality. Both electrical shock and calcium carbonate applications have been known about for a long time, but it was not commercially feasible to implement them until recently. Adam and other researchers alike are on the forefront of realizing these technologies and making them commercially feasible. Adam’s research is driven by a desire for food safety, but also to create products that people want to buy. Some previous efforts to improve meat with other vascular rinse additives resulted in the meat turning very red, which made the product unappealing to many customers. So far, this has not happened to the products treated with Adam’s additives. Off-the-record subjective sensory analysis showed some people preferred the flavor of the meat treated with Adam’s new additives versus meat treated with the control. Lab results show that the meat treated with the calcium chloride solution variation was objectively more tender.

Adam’s drive for research began far before MSABD. Adam’s undergraduate education at UW-Platteville was all-inclusive and very applied; he learned not only about meat sciences, but also animal nutrition, genetics, and more. Adam also had an internship at Weber Meats in Cuba City. After receiving his undergraduate degree, Adam reached out to professors at Iowa State and UW-Madison about graduate programs. He was drawn to Dr. Claus’s research, but there was insufficient funding to support Adam full-time. As a result, Adam paid for a few credits out of pocket and initially attended part-time. The Dennis R. Buege Meat Science Endowed Student Assistance Scholarship, which Adam received in 2023 was instrumental in allowing Adam to attend UW-Madison full time and further his meat science education.

Adam’s experiences in the classroom contributed not only to the development of his research, but also his dedication to MSABD. Adam was a teaching assistant for Dr. Claus in ANSCI 305 Introduction to Meat Science and Technology and ANSCI 515 Commercial Meat Processing. Adam learned much from teaching, and he came into the role with a strong awareness of what students need to be successful in the courses, his own undergraduate education having been disrupted by the pandemic.

Additionally, Adam facilitated activities for younger students, from teaching third graders how hot dogs are made, to showing seventh graders sheer force testing and colorimeter readings at a STEM camp. These outreach opportunities were very rewarding for Adam, as he was able to introduce meat science to the next generation of scientists.

To Adam, being a MS student is an exercise in organization. As the student is the one in charge of the research, it was Adam’s responsibility to ensure that his project remained on track and that the right kinds of data were being collected along the way. Adam’s advice for other students is to keep an open mind – keep trying things, and if you do not like something, there will be something else to try that might be what you like.

After graduation, Adam hopes to continue working in meat quality and with his hands in a harvest facility. Adam believes in the strengths of the meat industry and wants to be a part of the outreach that bridges its honorable work with the public. Adam’s experiences at MSABD, along with his sincerity and warmth, set him up for a bright future and career in the meat industry.

This article was posted in Program Features.