Meat + Poultry - November 2016 - 20

INGREDIENT ESSENTIALS * ADVERTORIAL

Natural Vinegar-Based Ingredients Help Keep America's Favorite
Sausage Safe
Baseball, hot dogs, apple pie...they are all
American summer traditions. Did you know
in 2015 consumers spent more than $2.5
billion on hot dogs in U.S. supermarkets?
According to the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council, Washington, D.C., that equates
to nearly one billion pounds of hot dogs.
"Driving sales is the popularity of highprotein foods and interest in natural and
organic products," said Eric Mittenthal, president of the council.

Keeping product safe
Listeria monocytogenes is a foodborne
pathogen readily transmitted through readyto-eat meat (RTE) and poultry products such
as hot dogs and other fully cooked sausages
that often get tossed on the grill and simply
charred with some warming. With Listeria
omnipresent in the environment, such RTE
meats are very susceptible to contamination,
as they are repeatedly exposed to microorganisms during meal assembly.
Listeria resists historical microbial growth
inhibitors such as salt and acidity. It also
readily grows at refrigerated temperatures;

the desirable color and quality of meat
products," Ms. Schwartz said. "When used
in combination with rosemary and green
tea extracts, acerola is more effective at
delaying early discoloration than either
extract alone." This allows for shelf life to
more closely reflect the microbial spoilage
that occurs.
"These versatile, natural solutions are
consumer-friendly alternatives to traditional
synthetic ingredients commonly used in the
industry," Ms. Schwartz said.

Research results
Kemin worked with researchers at The
University of Nebraska-Lincoln to evaluate the effectiveness of plant extracts on
delaying color loss in ground beef, the most
common meat used for burgers. Three plant
extract systems were evaluated against an
untreated control. The three treatments
were a rosemary extract, a proprietary blend
of green tea and rosemary extracts and a
proprietary blend of acerola, green tea and
rosemary extracts. All treatments and the
control were subject to the same modified
atmosphere packaging (MAP) and storage
conditions. The application rate for each
treatment was 0.2%, because previous re-

and although freezing temperatures
will stop its growth, this hearty bacterium remains viable. Consumption
of Listeria can result in Listeriosis,
a potentially fatal disease. Proper
cooking and reheating effectively
controls Listeria; however, outdoor
grilling does not always reach lethal
temperatures.
Because pathogens such as Listeria do not typically change the taste
or smell of food, they go undetected. Further, with Listeria, risk of contamination cannot be prevented. This makes it imperative
for meat and poultry processors to do their
part with including food safety ingredients
in such products.
With clean-label and simple ingredients
a growing priority for today's consumers,
processors are turning to specialty vinegarbased ingredients that have been proven
to control Listeria growth. Kemin Food
Technologies, Des Moines, Iowa, developed
BactoCEASE™ NV and BactoCEASE™ NV-K.
These buffered vinegar solutions have been
shown to effectively inhibit Listeria in various

search had shown that the addition of 0.2% of
Kemin's rosemary extract provided adequate
shelf life for MAP ground beef.
Using a HunterLab colorimeter, researchers
measured a* values, which quantify redness
and are indicative of oxidative color changes.
Values for the untreated control samples declined quickly during lighted storage, while
a* values of the samples treated with plantderived extracts declined at a slower pace,
with Kemin's proprietary blend of acerola,
green tea and rosemary extracts maintaining
the highest a* values.
A separate study was conducted on ground
turkey, which is increasingly used to make
better-for-you burgers because of its lower
saturated fat content, as compared to beef. An
untreated control was compared to ground
turkey treated with rosemary extract alone
(CA-FORT™ 1010 Liquid) and rosemary and
acerola extracts combined (NaturFORT™ AR
101 Liquid). The latter contains an equivalent
amount of rosemary extract as the former.
Two treatment levels (0.22% and 0.30%, by
meat weight) of NaturFORT™ AR 101 Liquid
were evaluated. These levels represent the
range of rosemary extract inclusion levels
commercial turkey processors typically use for
high-oxygen MAP ground turkey.

meat cuts, including fully cooked hot dogs
and sausages, as well as raw uncured turkey,
cured ham and enhanced pork loin.
"Acetic acid is the key active ingredient in
buffered vinegar," said Courtney Schwartz,
senior marketing communications manager
at Kemin. "The BactoCEASE™ NV relies on sodium cations while BactoCEASE™ NV-K uses
potassium, enabling the latter to assist with
lower-sodium formulating.
"Vinegar is a time-tested, well-known ingredient, one often found in grandma's cupboard," she said. BactoCEASE™ ingredients
are declared on labels as simply vinegar or
vinegar powder.

Results indicated that as the color of the
ground turkey changed from bright pink to
pale pink/light brown, the a* values declined
for all three treatments, with the impact of
time and treatment significant. (See graph.)
Both samples treated with the acerola and
rosemary extract blend experienced a slower
rate of color loss, as compared to rosemary
extract alone. Increasing the application rate
of the blended ingredient provided a slight
improvement in color retention.

Conclusion
Kemin's proprietary plant-based ingredient
blends made from acerola, green tea and/or
rosemary extracts can delay color and flavor
changes in meat and poultry better than any of
the extracts alone.
Note: Certain statements may not be applicable in all geographical regions. Product
labeling and associated claims may differ
based upon government requirements.
For more information, contact Kemin at
kftmarketing@kemin.com.

Meat + Poultry - November 2016

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Meat + Poultry - November 2016