NON-MEAT INGREDIENTS FOR MEAT INDUSTRY

Categories of non-meat ingredients

Along with the main components meat and animal fat, a wide range of substances of non-meat origin are used as ingredients in processed meat products. Some of them are absolutely necessary, such as salt and spices. Others are used for specific products.

Fig. 85: Store room for non-meat ingredients

One way of categorizing non-meat ingredients is by source (Fig. 86). They are either

• chemical substances or
• of plant origin or
• of animal origin (examples see a, b and c on page 63).

Fig. 86: Sources of non-meat ingredients

Other classification criteria for non-meat ingredients are, whether they are additives or full foods (“food by itself”) or whether they have functional properties or not.

Additives (Fig. 87 right) are usually substances, which are not normally consumed as food by itself, but which are added to develop certain technological and quality characteristics (for examples salt, curing agents, spices, water binding and gelation enhancing substances). In contrast, vegetables, flours, eggs, etc. (Fig. 87 left) could be considered as full food ingredients.

Fig. 87: Nature of non-meat ingredients

Most ingredients are functional, which describes their ability to introduce or improve certain quality characteristics. The functional properties of ingredients include their impact on:

• taste
• flavour
• appearance
• colour
• texture
• water binding
• counteracting fat separation
• preservation

Ingredients which are solely functional without any other effect such as filling or extending the volume of the product, are normally used in small amounts (e.g. common salt 1,5-3%, nitrite 0.01-0.02%, phosphates 0.05-0.5%, ascorbic acid 0.03%, isolated soy protein or non-fat dried milk proteins 2%) (Fig. 88, 89 right).

Fig. 88: Example of effect of functional ingredients
Meat loaf cut, left with curing colour, centre without colour, right with artificial colour

The criteria for the utilization of functional non-meat ingredients are:

• safe for consumers, and
• improve of processing technology and/or sensory quality of the products.

In contrast to the exclusively functional substances, there is another group of ingredients that are not primarily intended for change of appearance or quality improvements but serve to add volume to the meat products. They are called meat extenders and fillers. Their main purpose is to make meat products lower-cost. Meat extenders and fillers include cereals, legumes, vegetable, roots and tubers and are used in larger quantities, on average between 2 and 15% (Fig. 89 left and center).

Fig. 89: Type of non-meat ingredients

Meat extenders are primarily plant proteins from legumes, with soybeans as the major source. TSP (Textured Soy Protein, see page 80) is the most common soy bean extender. These cheaper plant proteins “extend” the more expensive meat proteins, resulting in acceptable overall protein contents of lower cost meat products. Extenders are added in sizeable amounts that increase the bulk of the meat products, but this may also alter their quality. From animal protein sources, whole milk and eggs can be considered as meat extenders. In some countries, replacement of meat by fish is gaining popularity resulting in fish products which may be meat and fish mixes or entirely made of fish materials, e.g. “fish viennas”, made using the same technology and process as viennas made of meat (Fig. 90).

 

Fig. 90: Fish sausage 
Fillers are also mostly plant substances, low in protein and high in carbohydrates such as cereals, roots, tubers and vegetables and some refined products such as starches and flours. Pure meat products are very low in carbohydrates. Hence the addition of carbohydrate-rich substances is not an “extension” of the protein mix, but some new components “fill-up” the product volume. Apart from their volume-filling capacity, some fillers, in particular starches and flours, are also used for their capability to absorb extensive quantities of water.

Extenders and fillers are not standard ingredients in processed meats, in fact high quality products are often manufactured without them. But they are useful tools in cost reduction enabling the manufacture of lower-cost but still nutritive meat products. Such products are particularly suitable to supply valuable animal proteins in the diets of consumers who cannot regularly afford expensive meat and meat preparations (see page 195).

As another definition for specific non-meat ingredients, the term binder is used for substances of animal or plant origin, which have a significant high level of protein that serves for both water and fat binding. Such substances include high-protein soy, wheat and milk products, such as soy isolate, wheat gluten, milk protein (caseinate). They are not extenders in the first place due to the low quantities added (approx. 2%), but act through their high quality proteins that are instrumental in water binding and protein network structuring. On the other hand, some substances with little or no protein level, like starches and flours mentioned above under “fillers”, can bind water and fat by means of physical entrapment and could also be considered “binders”.

The above aspect illustrates that clear definitions in the wide range of non-meat ingredients are difficult to establish. While most substances have one dominating effect, there are in many cases also desirable side effects that, however, complicate their clear grouping. Even those substances like textured vegetable protein/TVP, which are primarily intended for non-functional purposes, namely meat extension, have a water binding effect, which qualifies them also as moderately functional. Also soy isolates or dried milk powders, which are used as binders, also have a slight extension effect as the amounts added (approx. 2%) moderately increases the protein level. Most substances have double or even multiple effects.

Therefore, in order to provide an overview of the most common substances used as non-meat ingredients, they are listed hereunder according to their origin, namely chemical (a) or of animal (b) or plant origin (c):

a) Chemical substances used as ingredients

There are various chemical substances approved for the different kinds of food processing, but in the specific case of meat processing the number of approved chemical substances is rather limited in most countries. The following are of significance:

• Salt (for taste, impact on meat proteins, shelf-life)
• Nitrite (for curing colour, flavour, shelf-life)
• Ascorbic acid (to accelerate curing reaction)
• Phosphates (for protein structuring and water binding)
• Chemical preservatives (for shelf-life)
• Antioxidants (for flavour and shelf-life)
• Monosodium glutamate MSG (for enhancement of flavour)
• Food colouring substances (synthetic and of plant origin)

Chemical additives have exclusively functional properties, they are used in small amounts usually below 1% (with nitrate as low as 0.05%). Only salt is in the range of 2% (with up to 4% in some fermented dried products).

b) Non-meat ingredients of animal origin

Ingredients of animal origin are not commonly applied but may be useful for specific meat preparations. They all have functional properties (except whole milk), in particular improvement of water binding and prevention of fat separation during heat treatment. Apart from their functional properties, some of them can also be considered meat extenders, as mentioned below.

• Milk caseinate (90% protein; used in small quantities (2%); have functional water and fat binding properties)
• Whole milk or non-fat dried milk (=skim milk) (sometimes used in indigenous meat preparations as a protein extender)
• Gelatine (binding properties and meat extender)
• Blood plasma (predominantly binding properties)
• Eggs (extender and binding ingredient for meat pieces and fried sausages)
• Transglutaminase^* (exclusively binding properties)

c) Ingredients of plant origin

All spices (see page 83) are of plant origin. They are predominantly functional and used in small quantities to provide or add flavour and taste to meat products.

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^*) Natural substance in animal organisms, but now produced synthetically.

Another group of predominantly functional substances of plant origin with high protein content are used as binders (see page 80) to increase water binding and fat retention, in particular in intensively heat treated products (see page 158). The most commonly used substances are

• isolated soy protein (90% protein) and
• wheat gluten (80% protein)

and, less importantly, protein isolates from other legumes.
A third group of ingredients of plant origin are used as meat extenders (if rich in proteins) or fillers (if rich in carbohydrates) for meat product and sausage formulations. The purpose is to replace expensive meat for lower- or medium-grade products by cheaper ingredients of plant origin for cost reduction and volume increase.

Meat extenders / Plant products with high protein content are

• Soy flour (50% protein)
• Soy concentrate (70% protein)
• Other food legumes (beans, peas, lentils), used for special products only.

Fillers / Carbohydrate products with low protein content (usually added in quantities of 2%-15%, some of them – in particular roots and vegetable – up to 50%). These are the typical fillers. Apart from cost reduction and adding to volume, some flours and starches belonging to this group of fillers also act to some extend as binders. This property serves important functions such as increasing water binding for more juiciness or fat binding for improved texture.

• Cereal flours from wheat, rice and corn
• Starches from wheat, rice, corn, potato and cassava
• Breadcrumbs
• Rusk (derived by mixing and baking wheat flour)
• Cereals to be added without milling, e.g. rice, corn
• Roots and tubers, e.g. cassava, sweet potato
• Vegetable and fruits, e.g. onions, bell pepper, carrots, green vegetables, bananas
• Polysaccharides (Hydrocolloids):
• Carrageenan (is the only hydrocolloid product of this group popular in meat processing, added in quantities of max. 1%, improves sliceability and cohesiveness). The substance can be considered both binder and filler. (INFORMATION SOURCE: http://www.fao.org)