Meat Processing

Add A Little Culture:

Shelf Life Extension for Meat Snacks

To produce long lasting and safe meat-based snacks,

some Chinese meat processors are turning to cultures
that create conditions hostile to pathogens whilst
maintaining a moist and juicy product.

E
XTENDING the shelf life of products is always a cultures at the China International Meat Congress in Beijing
prime concern for snack food producers. For this July.
companies that manufacture meat-based snacks, the Responding to questions from Food & Beverage Asia,
challenge is compounded by the need to ensure the Ken Grimmond, Regional Technical Industry Manager –
microbiological safety in addition to the eating quality of Meat & Prepared Foods for Chr. Hansen in the Asia Pacific,
the product throughout its declared best-before period. Middle East & Africa said he sees a good future for meat
Various natural and artificial preservatives as well as snacks in China. “Based on current market trends, we see an
novel packaging systems are available to help maintain the opportunity for meat snacks to be one of the front-runners
quality and safety of meat-based foods. But one approach in convenient foods consumption in China,” he noted, adding
that tackles the problem head-on is the use of ‘good bugs’ to that meat snacks are already highly popular in the USA and
counter the bad. Based on this idea, Danish ingredient Europe. About 1.5 million tons of meat snacks were
company Chr. Hansen has consumed in Europe in 2005, according
developed cultures that can to Chr. Hansen.
suppress the growth of
bacteria in processed meat, Meaty future for protein snacks
thereby extending its shelf According to Mr Grimmond, this
life by up to one year. Using demand is being driven by urban
these cultures, Chr. Hansen consumers in China, who are always
is working with meat proces- busy and on the move. “They require
sors in China to create meat-
based snacks for launch in
the country in the near future.
Robin Liu, Technical
Sales Manager for Meat and
Prepared Foods at Chr. Meat-based snacks are highly popular
Hansen in China, shared in Europe and are expected to grow in
about the benefits of these China.

60 FOOD & BEVERAGE ASIA OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2006


quick and convenient eating options
plus healthy food to keep them
going,” he said. “Meat snacks will
be a good nutritional substitute to a
high carbohydrate meal at anytime.
They give the consumer the oppor-
tunity to eat healthy, safe and low
fat meat products.” Consumption of
meat snacks in China is also asso-
ciated with social occasions such as
outings and parties as well as home
use.
The meat snacks to be launched
in China will have a product life
between that of fresh meat (which
is at most one week) and jerky (up
to two years). The snacks can be
packaged in small plastic bags and
consumed like jelly or chips. They
can be made using typical meats
such as pork, beef or chicken.
Various forms are possible, from
skin-on or skinless sausages to diced
meat pieces and thin jerky-type
slices of meat.
Low pH shuts out pathogens
Chr. Hansen uses a mixture of
Lactobacillus and Pediococcus
cultures to stop the growth of
harmful bacteria. The cultures lower
the pH value of the meat to below
5, where pathogens can no longer
survive. However, they also pre-
serve the water content, making the
snacks more distinctive and juicier
than dry beef jerky. The water
activity at 8.5 is also higher than that
of normal sausages, which usually
stands at 6.5.
Mr Grimmond stated that to
produce the meat snacks, all that is
required is standard commercial meat
processing equipment “in combination
with a controlled fermentation process
using Chr. Hansen’s Bactoferm
cultures.” To suit local market prefe-
rences, Chr. Hansen also offers various
seasonings and flavour systems,
including cultures based on Micro-
coccus and Staphylococcus strains that
offer enhanced aromas.
The finished product, when kept at
Meat Processing
No more bleeding with new surimi colours
CHR. Hansen recently launched a new range of colours specifically for the
global surimi production community. The Danish company is already a leading
global producer of natural colours, but now it hopes to become one of the main
suppliers to the surimi
industry within the next few
years.
Lionel Schmitt, Chr.
Hansen’s Vice President of
Commercial Development,
Colours, said that with most
coloured surimi-based pro-
ducts, it is important that the
colour being used does not
bleed or migrate into the
white part of the surimi or
to a neighbouring surimi in
the same package. This
would result in a less appea-
ling look of the product. “In this application, the non-bleeding property of a
colour is there a significant functionality equal to colour shade and heat and
light stability,” said Mr Schmitt.
And this is exactly what Chr. Hansen’s surimi colours offer; a wide range of
colours that features both existing and new shades, heat- and light stability and
are non-bleeding. To give the producers a chance to test these new colours
themselves, a surimi box containing samples and documentation has been
developed and offers producers the opportunity to learn more about Chr. Hansen’s
surimi colours.
There is already a large market for surimi in the Far East, and right now,
surimi is a major trend in Southern Europe. According to Chr. Hansen, European
consumers are now more health-conscious than ever and are increasingly
incorporating surimi into their daily meals.
“Many consumers in both the United States and Europe consider surimi a
good source of protein, minerals and vitamins. It is recognised as a healthy food
product that is low in fat and therefore it fits very well into the current health
trend,” concludes Mr. Schmitt.
ambient temperature and packed in a hurdle concept in their process,” he
multi-layer barrier film pouch under added, referring the combined use of
nitrogen or vacuum, can have a shelf preservatives, redox potential, low
life of 6-12 months. Chr. Hansen says water activity and competitive exclu-
processors using its Bactoferm cultures sion to overcome harmful microbio-
will enjoy various technical benefits in logical activity.
producing these meat snacks, including Currently, less than 10% of meat
a relatively low production cost. in China is sold as processed items but
To be assured of food safety, Mr Chr. Hansen expects this figure to rise.
Grimmond said manufacturers should Two of the country’s largest meat pro-
start off with good raw materials in cessors are working with Chr. Hansen
conjunction with an accurate fermenta- to develop the new meat snacks.
tion process that would lower the pH
quickly. “Producers can also apply the Enquiry No: 038
FOOD & BEVERAGE ASIA OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2006 61