In meat and poultry processing, salt is a multifunctional ingredient and plays several critically important roles. Thus, one of the challenges of salt reduction is potentially reduced product shelf life, Sebranek says. Processed foods such as pizza, potato chips, deli meats and canned soups are the major culprits when it comes to excess sodium in the American diet.
chloride etc.). $\begingroup$ @user128932 To elaborate on Levy's answer, sodium very rarely forms any type of solid compound because of its solubility. By now you’ve probably heard that consuming excess sodium can be bad for your health. One significant problem is no single perfect sodium substitute exits. Excess sodium can elevate blood pressure, which in turn can lead to stroke, heart and kidney disease.
“The preferred taste that we all have for salt is an acquired taste based on how much we habitually consume,” he says. With the addition of salt and the application of a mechanical action, such as mixing and tumbling, processors also can extract myofibrillar proteins. “Unlike previous efforts to reduce sodium, this time it seems to be a more concerted effort and more widely embraced throughout the food industry.”. That being said, I eat meat at least once, usually twice, a day and never go anywhere near my sodium limit, so it also depends on what you ADD to the meat when you cook it. While potassium chloride provides the most direct replacement of salt (sodium chloride), other compounds that can increase the ionic charges in the solution have been studied to provide the necessary ionic charges to extract myofibrillar proteins, Sullivan explains. Salt also solubilizes a significant amount of the meat proteins, which then can form a gel when cooked. For example, sodium phosphates are often avoided in these products and are the hardest to replicate in natural or clean-label products. Well, our own bodies have sodium in them, so it is logical that other animals would have it as well. Reducing sodium in meat and poultry products Sodium's sticking point: Meat and poultry processors continue to battle to reduce sodium in their products, but it’s not always an easy feat to accomplish without affecting functionality or taste. Kantha Shelke, principal of Corvus Blue, in Chicago, agrees that reducing the amount of added sodium in meat and poultry is challenging, because sodium is a part of many ingredients that contribute functionality, flavor and safety to meat and poultry. You add water only. In addition, awareness of a range of flavoring ingredients such as fungi, algae, peppers, and spices and herbs, which can not only replace salt but also contribute to the taste and health benefits of foods, is growing. But where on earth is all the sodium in meat coming from? You must have JavaScript enabled to enjoy a limited number of articles over the next 30 days. By visiting this website, certain cookies have already been set, which you may delete and block. Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing. Visit our updated, This website requires certain cookies to work and uses other cookies to help you have the best experience. Even the low sodium stuff is pretty high in it. Best thing you can do is grill lean meats at home, and try to use a minimal amount of salt based seasoning on them. Reducing salt or sodium intake is one way to lower the risk for these diseases. As with the rest of the food industry, meat and poultry processors are actively exploring ingredient technologies to reduce sodium in their products due to consumers’ more healthful eating desires. I eat a lot of meat during the day; I'm certainly not an expert, but I'll put my two cents into this discussion. I was just wondering if when you buy the meat at places like walmart or grocery stores if they add anything to the meat in order to enhance it's shelf life and therefore causing a higher sodium level than you would naturally find in the meat itself.
Check out the October 2020 edition of Independent Processor: White Oak Pastures, chronic wasting disease facts that hunters and processors need to know, Indian cuisine, online steak shopping and much more! “Potassium ingredients are also typically bitter or metallic and tend to interact with other flavors to change the overall taste of the food product.”. Deli meats tend to be high in sodium because it's used partially as a preservative, and partially to enhance flavor. In fact, half of processed meat and poultry products have had their sodium reduced in recent years. In meat and poultry processing, salt is a multifunctional ingredient and plays several critically important roles. I know with chicken a lot of brands will inject it with salt water to add weight. I don't want to let all this money i spent go to waste. Retaining moisture and cook yield in reduced sodium meat and poultry products also can be achieved through the addition of sodium phosphates, starches, gums, hydrocolloids and animal- or plant-sourced proteins. And then probably another series of re-soaking , rinsing.
One company has released a salt replacement made from sea salt and umami-rich vegetables such as tomato concentrate, and mushroom and seaweed extracts. “There is definitely a strong trend to reducing sodium that has been ongoing for some time,” Sebranek says. It also aids in bacterial suppression and is an important flavor component, among other functional benefits. I'm the same. Many companies are reducing sodium in their products either with low sodium offerings highlighted on the package or by gradually reducing sodium in the products over time.
A new salt replacement is permeate, minerals filtered out during the production of whey protein concentrate, whey protein isolate, ultra-filtered milk, milk protein concentrate or milk protein isolate. “In meat products, salt provides the salty taste and also increases the perception of other flavors in the meat product,” explains Gary Sullivan, assistant professor of meat processing at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. All Rights Reserved BNP Media.
This website requires certain cookies to work and uses other cookies to help you have the best experience. Now if you throw the exact same lean roast into the crock pot add water, then add say onion soup or a meat tenderizer, the sodium level just spiked in the meat. Sullivan thinks the current trend to reduce sodium content in food slowly will continue. In addition, a number of vegetable extracts can act as salt substitutes. Many products currently are being promoted as sodium alternatives and include non-meat proteins, fruit and vegetable fiber products and reformulation technology. Additionally, new ways of preparation, with spices, herbs and different ingredients, allow for the development of flavor such that the reliance on salt is reduced significantly without a discernible sacrifice in taste, texture or other functionalities that matter to the processor. Meat scientists have been working on ways to reduce sodium in meat products without impacting the safety of the product by using other ingredients, but they have to make sure those ingredients donât also significantly change the taste or texture of the meat. “It’s been made clear that we can be weaned to lower salt concentrations if the change is made slowly. Salt also contributes highly desirable flavor and helps other flavors in processed meats become more flavorful. “Phosphates can provide much of the water binding and protein solubilization, but are also viewed somewhat negatively by consumers looking for clean labels,” Sebranek says. Please click here to continue without javascript.. Shelke also believes the biggest issue with salt replacement is food safety. Another challenge is that one replacement system combines sodium chloride and potassium chloride with sodium gluconate to replicate the salty flavor and functionality of salt, but it does not work with every meat and poultry application, Shelke says. Many companies are reducing sodium in their products either with low sodium offerings highlighted on the package or by gradually reducing sodium in the products over time. It can replace not only salt, but also monosodium glutamate in some foods, Shelke says. Check out the November 2020 edition of The National Provisioner: 2020 Consumer Trends Report, fight for food safety, microbials on dry-aged beef, alternative proteins and much more! “Potassium chloride can be used to provide chloride ions for water binding but have a negative flavor impact, so can only be used for 50 percent or so of the sodium chloride.
Because salt provides a salty taste and enhances the overall flavor, it may be necessary to increase spice content or add other ingredients such as organic acid salts such as potassium lactate to maintain flavor perception, Sullivan says. There were even cases of consumers contracting MRSA from handling bacon. In addition, maintaining shelf life can be achieved through the addition of non-sodium antimicrobial ingredients and post-packaging treatments such as high-pressure processing, improved sanitation and cold chain management. … It may not be salt, it could be any of the other types of sodium (msg and pot. The amount of sodium in any product can be found on the nutrition facts panel, so consumers can use this as a guide when purchasing meat products. For webinar sponsorship information, visit www.bnpevents.com/webinars or email webinars@bnpmedia.com. By closing this message or continuing to use our site, you agree to the use of cookies. “Permeate is used to substitute for salt in meat and poultry products and is labeled as dairy product solids and, therefore, may not be allowed in Kosher products,” Shelke says. Elizabeth Fuhrman is a contributing writer.
In meat and poultry processing, salt is a multifunctional ingredient and plays several critically important roles. Some reduction of sodium can be achieved by simple reformulation, but it’s limited by minimum salt concentration required to provide sufficient extraction of proteins, Sullivan says. “The extracted proteins allow us to bind separate pieces of meat as is required in the manufacture of restructured meat products,” Sullivan says.
Other flavoring ingredients can also be used but cannot fully replace sodium.
“When greater sodium reduction is required, addressing the different functions of salt is necessary,” he says. “KCl is used instead of NaCl to help manage moisture to reduce microbial growth and control the onset of pathogens, and potassium phosphates are often used instead of sodium phosphates for texture and moisture management.”, Several challenges exist, though, to replacing salt’s functionality. While this can improve the flavor and texture of the chicken, it obviously adds sodium that isn't necessary. In fact, half of processed meat and poultry products have had their sodium reduced in recent years. Sodium helps inhibit growth of dangerous bacteria like Listeria in particular. I need to know is their anyway to remove the sodium from the foods like washing it in vinegar or something. Conversely, previous efforts tended to greatly reduce sodium content all at once or processors offered a “regular” and a “low-” or “reduced-sodium” version of the same product, he says. Shelke expects to see new ways of cooking that enhance taste and texture of meat and poultry such that salt is not needed in the amounts used currently. Visit our updated, Bacon, sausage boom with at-home breakfasts, Considerations for hydrocolloids reformulation, Functional Ingredients Promote Product Quality and Safety, The challenges of reducing sodium in meat products, New video examines myths about sodium in processed meat products, Handbook of Food Products Manufacturing: Health, Meat, Milk, Poultry, Seafood, and Vegetables, Volume 2, Handbook of Meat, Poultry and Seafood Quality, second edition, Handbook of Fermented Meat and Poultry, 2nd Edition, Controlling Salmonella in Poultry Production and Processing, How to Solve Pumping Challenges in Meat and Poultry Processing.