Meat Imaging USA CEO & Founder, Desi Cicale, has been announced as one of the keynote speakers at the next British Cattle Breeders Conference due to be held virtually on 25 January 2022.
Desi Cicale
Says Desi: “Meat Imaging USA (MIUSA) was facing a market that did not understand how to interpret above-Prime meat quality, and struggled to demonstrate the advantages of carcases that yielded higher marbling scores. MIUSA desired to move forward to engage the USDA (US Department of Agriculture) to expand its beef quality grading system to accommodate the extraordinary quality of Wagyu beef. With the demand for premium quality beef proven to be an emerging market, the contribution of Wagyu cattle with their exceptional marbling quality far exceeds the USA Prime Grade. Meat Imaging USA’s main objective is to help producers grade their beef with a standardized, uniform grading system developed by MIJ (Meat Image) Japan.”
MIJ Camera App in use at a processor
Over the last 30 years, MIJ Japan has developed grading technology that is the most advanced digital analysis system for measuring carcase merit. The MIJ team is recognized the world over for its cutting-edge technology.
MIJ Mobile App being used by a small-scale producer
In 2020, Australia recognized the significance of this technology and organized a thorough research study that would compare traditional processes with the new technology provided by MIJ labs. Impressively, they found that the MIJ cameras not only mirrored the results collected traditionally but provided more comprehensive and accurate measurements. In 2021, MIJ camera technology was granted conditional approval by their statutory body Aus-Meat.
The MIJ camera generates a huge amount of key data from each carcase scan
The British Wagyu Breeders Association (WBA) has now introduced this technology to the UK and has joined other countries with expanding Wagyu populations – such as Germany – in using MIJ. This brings with it the potential to create a global standard for Wagyu beef and an internationally comparable grading system for Beef Marbling Standard (BMS).
At the conference, Desi will show the MIJ-30 camera in action and demonstrate its use via a mobile app downloaded to a smartphone. The ‘bigger picture’ of how carcase data is captured, and how this information can then be exploited, will also be explored.
For further information on the conference, see www.cattlebreeders.org.uk. To find out more about MIJ carcase camera technology see www.meatimaging.com