The 71st International Congress of Meat Science and Technology (ICoMST) took place from 3rd to 8th August 2025 at the Auditori Palau de Congressos in Girona, Spain. This prestigious congress brought together leading researchers, scientists, and industry professionals from across the globe to discuss the latest developments and innovations in meat science, including production systems, quality assessment, and sustainable practices. 

At the congress, Jean-François Hocquette (INRAE, France) on behalf of the INTAQT project presented a poster, coordinated by Alix Neveu of the International Meat 3G Foundation. The work, titled “Consumer nationality does not influence beef eating quality ranking in European cross-country testing”, examined consumer evaluations of beef across France, Italy, and Poland. 

The study found that consumers from these three countries ranked beef samples in a consistent manner, suggesting that perceptions of eating quality are largely independent of nationality. These results provide strong support for the development of a common European beef eating quality grading system, which could facilitate standardized evaluation of meat products across different markets and enhance consumer confidence. 

This poster presentation highlights INTAQT’s continued contribution to advancing research in meat quality and demonstrates the consortium’s commitment to fostering collaboration and knowledge exchange across Europe. The findings also have important implications for the meat industry, particularly in aligning production practices with consumer expectations and establishing harmonized quality assessment protocols.

Jean-François Hocquette – INTAQT poster, ICoMST 2025