"Dark cutting" likely got its name from an undesirable condition in beef caused by long-term stress where the postmortem pH of the muscle remains high causing the lean to be dark in color and sometimes, if severe enough, sticky to the touch. Carcasses with this condition are referred to as a "dark cutters," and some cattle that are observed to be stressed before slaughter may be expected to "cut dark" as a prediction of how the lean may look when the carcasses are ribbed for grading. Although dark-cutting beef is relatively infrequent, most beef carcass grid purchasing programs have discounts for them of $20 to $30/cwt, which results in hundreds of dollars of lost revenue for the cattle feeder with each occurrence. Beef processors are left with unattractive cuts to merchandise, often to the foodservice industry, where the consumer does not see the raw dark-colored muscle before it is cooked.
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