The firmness of backfat in pigs is an important aspect of meat quality which is influenced by the chemical composition of the fat tissue. This is affected by the amount (thickness) of fat and by diet. Thin backfat Is relatively soft but nutritional manipulation can potentially overcome this problem.

This work compared fat thickness in pigs on a commercial farm fed a concentrate diet (CD) or a skimmed milk - balancer diet (SM). The low level of oil in SM was likely to be a key factor in increasing firmness.