drip loss (plural drip losses)

1. (food science) The fluid that leaks from food, especially meat, poultry, fruits, and vegetables, after freezing and thawing, caused by ice crystals rupturing cell walls, which significantly reduces the product's texture (i.e. making it tougher/mushier), flavor, and overall quality; a key indicator of poor quality, with fast freezing minimizing this loss.

   Near-synonyms: purge, weep

   • 2021, Dequan Zhang, Xin Li, Li Chen, Chengli Hou, Zhenyu Wang, chapter 5.2, in Protein Phosphorylation and Meat Quality‎^[1], page 78:

     After measuring the drip loss, the two samples with the highest and lowest drip loss were selected and divided into high drip loss group and low drip loss group. The physiochemical properties and muscle fiber structure of the two mutton groups were compared, and the protein phosphorylation level was studied by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis.

• purge (sense 6), the reddish liquid that seeps out from meat
• weep (sense 3), the reddish liquid that seeps out from meat

• ScienceDirect. "Drip Loss".