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SEP 2017 FOOD FOCUSTHAILAND
SPECIAL
FOCUS
Theprocessing food industryhasbeenput toachallengesince
the increasing consumer awareness of the foodproduct. The
term “Clean label” therefore become an important task
nowadays for the food manufacturers to achieve. The clean
label ingenerous isasenseofclear,cleanandunderstandable
declaration of processed food product. It may also stand for
natural productwithout artificial ingredientsor chemicals. The
challenge of formulation not only is to take out the artificial
preservatives or flavors, also to remove the ingredients with
E-number that helps for coloring, stabilizing, emulsifying,
texturizing and so on.
Processed meat industry with an economic value of USD 714
billion in2016 (ZionMarketResearch).According toMeatandPoultry:
US Retail Market Trends and Opportunities, a recently published
report from Packaged Facts, Rockville, Md., meat and poultry
processors are responding to consumer demands for clean label
productsbyprovidingmoreorganicoptionsandproductswith fewer
additivesor preservativesor noneat all. “Consumersare looking for
products with clean labels that provide the free-from information,”
saidDavidSprinkle, researchdirector for PackagedFacts.
Proteinhas longbeen recognizedby itsnutritional and functional
benefit. Depending on the physical function of the kinds of protein,
they help to provide the benefit that processedmeat manufactures
are looking for.Oneof thebest knownnatural protein sources is the
meat itself.Themeat protein is theclosest protein ingredient tomeat
CleanLabel
inProcessedMeat&PoultryProducts
in terms of aminoacidprofile, and the texture, color aswell as flavor that
it canprovide.Meat proteinshavenoE-number, theyarenatural, allergen
free andGMO free.
For example: Phosphates are a commonly usedadditive in variety of
meat preparations. The main goal is to improve the water holding and
emulsifying capacity of themeat. This results in alteration of the proteins
which influence thestructureand textureofmeat product.However,more
andmore research is done to replacephosphates as they have negative
health impact. In light of phosphates replacement, Bart Heyman, Ph.D.
1
conducted research to replacephosphatesbymeatprotein.Theconclusion
was thatnosignificantdifferenceswere found inproximateanalysis,WHC
and cooking losses. 0.8%meat protein canhelp toproduceaphosphate
free cooked sausage.
Aside from replacing artificial ingredients, studies also discussed the
benefitofapplyingmeatprotein inprocessedmeat to improveeatingquality
andcookingyield.PrabhuandDoerscher (2000) utilizeddehydratedpork
skin collagen in reduced fat frankfurters to increase cooking yield in the
final product andwas successfully done at 1% collagen adding on top of
the formulation.More recently, Pereira
et al.
(2011) found that 0.4 -1%of
collagen protein improves the quality of frankfurter sausage to reduce
cooking loss, improves texture and the color preference. In the industrial
level, those benefits are often achieved by replacing or synergizing with
the artificial ingredientswithmeat protein.
The consumer awareness of clean label will continue to grow as the
consumersare increasingly trying tomake their dietmore “clean.”Thanks
to the clean label ingredient options that helps for maintaining, even
improving theeatingqualityand integrityof our daily foodwhile remaining
or/and reducing the cost of production.
