Summary
Pork producers and breeders know that marbling (the fat running through muscle) makes loin cuts more valuable — but too much marbling in hams can actually lower their value for processors. So how do you breed for one without unintentionally affecting the other? Researchers from the Canadian Centre for Swine Improvement (CCSI) and Quebec's CDPQ explored whether ultrasound scanning — already used successfully to measure loin marbling in live pigs — could also predict marbling in ham muscles. They scanned 60 pigs before slaughter, then confirmed results through lab analysis after. The ultrasound showed promising results for ham muscles, with correlations ranging from 0.35 to 0.59. They also found a moderate link between loin and ham marbling levels. For Canadian producers, this matters because it suggests future genetic selection programs could potentially target high loin marbling without automatically driving up ham marbling — protecting value across both cuts. More refinement of the technology is still needed before it's ready for wide use.