Visible spectra of cold stored, cooked, and diseased chicken meats were collected. Changes in ratios of R(1)=A(485 nm)/A(560 nm) and R(2)=A(635 nm)/A(560 nm,) which are related to absorbances of the bands at 485 (metmyoglobin), 560 (oxymyoglobin), and 635 nm (sulfmyoglobin), were observed to be useful for studying the variation of meat color under the conditions of cold storage and cooking process. Such a strategy was also applied to classify fresh-raw wholesome and unwholesome meats into respective classes, and the result was compared with that produced from a chemometric model. The strategy might be used as a simple methodology for monitoring the color variation of meats where the development of the chemometric model is either impractical or not desirable.