Pork Color and Marbling Standards
Quality of fresh pork varies greatly. The quality levels shown below will appear differently to consumers, taste differently when cooked, and perform differently when converted to processed products. High-quality pork has greater monetary value than low-quality pork. Quality can be evaluated by simply visual appraisal, or it can be determined more accurately by scientific tests. This chart may be used to help identify variations in pork quality. Color and Marbling Standards cards are also available.
COLOR - TEXTURE - EXUDATION
| PSE |
|
|
| Pale pinkish gray, very Soft and Exudative. |
 |
Undesirable appearance and shrinks excessively. |
| RFN |
|
|
| Reddish pink, Firm and Non-exudative. "IDEAL." |
 |
Desirable color, firmness and water-holding capacity. |
| DFD |
|
|
| Dark purplish red, very Firm and Dry. |
 |
Firm and sticky surface, high water-holding capacity. |
COLOR STANDARDS - Minolta L* values use D65 daylight light source.
1.0
Pale pinkish gray to white
61*
 |
2.0
Grayish pink
55*
 |
3.0
Grayish pink
49*
 |
4.0
Dark reddish pink
43*
 |
5.0
Purplish red
37*
 |
6.0
Dark purplish red
31*
 |
MARBLING STANDARDS - Marbling scores correspond to intramuscular lipid content.
1.0
 |
2.0
 |
3.0
 |
4.0
 |
5.0
 |
6.0
 |
10.0
 |
|
|
| 
