Anatomical study of lesions in destructured ham

Stress occurring in pigs, before and during slaughter favours destructured meat (Franck et al., 2000, 2002). We supposed that a restraint stress provoked by immobilising hind limbs by links during a few minutes should be sufficient to induce destructured meat lesions. This kind of stress may be divided into a physical component (muscular effort) and an emotional component (fear). In order to study the two components separately we compared the effects of immobilisation by physical links with the effects of immobilization by chemical muscle relaxation. An infusion of succhinylcholine was used to induce leg paralysis without conscience lost. The situation is considered to be emotionaly very painful.