The qualities of meat – its composition, nutritional value, wholesomeness and consumer acceptability – are largely determined by the events and conditions encountered by the embryo, the live animal and the postmortem musculature. The control of these qualities, and their further enhancement, are thus dependent on a fuller understanding of the commodity at all stages of its existence – from the initial conception, growth and development of the organism to the time of slaughter and to the ultimate processing, preparation, distribution, cooking and consumption of its meat. 

It is the purpose of Meat Science to provide an appropriate medium for the dissemination of interdisciplinary and international knowledge on all the factors which influence the properties of meat. The journal is predominantly concerned with the flesh of mammals; however, contributions on poultry will only be considered, if they demonstrate that they would increase the overall understanding of the relationship between the nature of muscle and the quality of the meat which muscles become post mortem. Papers on large birds (e.g. emus, ostriches) and wild capture mammals and crocodiles will be considered.

Research papers 
reviews
short communications
reviews of books
conferences and meetings
letters to the editor

Editor
D.L. Hopkins
New South Wales Government, Sydney, NSW, Australia 2794; Adjunct Professor (Charles Sturt University, Wagga, Australia; Shandong Agricultural University, Taian, China) Email D.L. Hopkins
Associate Editors
M.E.R. Dugan
Lacombe Research and Development Centre, 6000 C & E Trail, Lacombe, T4L 1W1, Alberta, Canada Email M.E.R. Dugan
D. E. Gerrard
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Department of Animal and Poultry Sciences, 3200 Litton Reaves Hall, Blacksburg, Virginia, 24061-0306, United StatesEmail D. E. Gerrard
J.P. Kerry
University College Cork School of Food and Nutritional Sciences, Room 223, Food Science Building, College road, Cork, Ireland Email J.P. Kerry
P. Purslow
National University of the Center of the Province of Buenos Aires School of Veterinary Sciences Department of Technology and Food Quality, Campus Universitario, Paraje Arroyo Seco, Tandil, 7000, Buenos Aires, Argentina Email P. Purslow
F. Toldrá
Instituto de Agroquímica y Tecnología de Alimentos (IATA), Paterna (Valencia), SpainEmail F. Toldrá
W. Zhang
Nanjing Agricultural University College of Food Science and Technology, Nanjing, Nanjing, China Email W. Zhang
Editorial Board Members
D. Ansorena Artieda
University of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain
K. Arihara
Kitasato University School of Veterinary Medicine Graduate School of Veterinary Medicine, Towada, Japan
T. Astruc
INRA Centre Clermont-Ferrand-Theix-Lyon, St Genes Champanelle, France
J.R. Claus
University of Wisconsin Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, United States
C.N. Cutter
Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, United States
R. Davoli
University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
S. De Smet
Ghent University, Gent, Belgium
E.H. Drosinos
Agricultural University of Athens, Athens, Greece
M. Du
M. Estévez
University of Extremadura, Caceres, Spain
M. M. Farouk
AgResearch Ltd Science Group Food and Bio-based Products, Hamilton, New Zealand
C. Faustman
University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, United States
M Flores
Institute of Agrochemistry and Food Technology, Burjassot, Spain
T. Grandin
Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, United States
M.L. Greaser
University of Wisconsin Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, United States
J-F. HOCQUETTE
INRA French Institute for Agricultural Research Herbivore Research Unit, Theix, France
R. Hamill
Teagasc Food Research Centre Ashtown, Ashtown, Ireland
S.-T. Joo
Gyeongsang National University, Jinju, Korea, Republic of
M.P. Lanza
University of Catania, Catania, Italy
M.E. Latorre
CONICET, Centro de Investigacion Veterinaria de Tandil (CIVETAN) ; (CIC - CONICET - UNICEN), Buenos Aires, Argentina
G.-J. Nychas
Agricultural University of Athens Department of Food Science and Technology, Athens, Greece
M. N. O'Grady
University College Cork National University of Ireland, Ireland
P. Paulsen
University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, Wien, Austria
E. Ponnampalam
La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
E. Puolanne
University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
A. Saadoun
University of the Republic Uruguay, Montevideo, Uruguay
J.W. Savell
Texas A&M University College Station, College Station, Texas, United States
M. Serdaroğlu
Ege University, İzmir, Turkey
P. Strydom
Agricultural Research Council, Pretoria, South Africa
B. Uttaro
Lacombe Research and Development Centre, Lacombe, Alberta, Canada
P. Vahmani
University of California Davis Department of Animal Science, Davis, California, United States
E. Wiklund
University of Alaska Fairbanks School of Natural Resources and Extension, Fairbanks, Alaska, United States
G.H. Zhou
Nanjing Agricultural University Department of Agronomy, Nanjing, China