Meat + Poultry - June 2017 - 92

TOOLS OF THE TRADE

has equipped its injectors with a pressure
regulation system and designed a system that
delivers uniform distribution of brine with no
"dead zones." Nu-Meat's line of Metalquimia
Auvistick injectors has been upgraded to
include a new injection head for greater
precision injection percentage.
Suppliers are also improving controls for
optimal injection. Marel, with US offices in
Lenexa, Kansas, and an innovation center in
Des Moines, Iowa, has equipped its Townsend
low-pressure injection system for bacon
with a color touchscreen that allows for the
storage of up to 40 recipes with accurate,
easy changeover and that enables users to
monitor injection performance. That injector
also provides cost savings, with a "bathtub"
design that helps users reduce brine waste by
10 percent.

COMING CLEAN

Injection technology
continues to move toward
better functionality and
an increase in features.

"Most of
the changes
in delivery
systems are
the result of
decisions to
accommodate
different
ingredients
used as
substitutions."

92

MEAT+ POULTRY | 06.17 | www.meatpoultry.com

Marel

- CHANCE BROOKS

of a product, such as marinated pork
tenderloin or a seasoned chicken or turkey
breast. Flavorful marinated products fit to
consumers' appetite for quicker and easier
preparation of flavorful proteins. According
to the 2017 Power of Meat report, sponsored
by Sealed Air and conducted by 210
Analytics, 29 percent of consumers said that
they buy value-added products.
While injection is used to provide flavor
and tenderness primarily to pork and poultry
products, Brooks says there are growing
opportunities for the technology to be used
with other proteins. "You'll continue to see
deep penetration in pork and chicken, but
we've seen more change and ebb and flow in
proteins that traditionally don't have products
enhanced and marketed to consumers, such as
beef and lamb," he observes.
The latest injectors on the market are
designed for better functionality, with a variety
of features. For example, to prevent issues
with pumping, including potential clogging,
Nu-Meat Technology, South Plainfield, N.J.,

While brines and marinades delivered through
injectors allow for flavor and functionality,
another converging trend - the clean label
movement -- is impacting ingredients that
are injected into a product or how those
ingredients are perceived by consumers.
According to Brooks, interest in clean
(or cleaner) labels is impacting the use of
injection. "Most of the changes in delivery
systems are the result of decisions to
accommodate different ingredients used
as substitutions for current ones. While
phosphates are extremely functional in an
enhanced meat system and are considered to
be naturally derived, they are not necessarily
considered natural on a label," he says. "So
there are some looking to replace phosphates
with ingredients like gums, which require
special production management to get them to
be productive."
Going forward, clean label seems more of
a reality than a trend. Four in 10 consumers
say they look for an expanded assortment of
products labeled as hormone free/no added
hormones, antibiotic free, grass fed and
raised in the USA/local products, according
to the 2017 Power of Meat report. The market
research firm Euromonitor projects that global
sales of clean label food and beverage items
will soar to $180 billion by 2020.
Accordingly, injection technology and
ingredients to be injected reflect interest in
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