Alternative curing systems

Abstract

Through the years, the meat industry has seen the development and production of foods to meet the demands of health-conscious consumers. Food products with natural, organic, preservative-free, and minimally processed claims are now commonly available to consumers in the marketplace. These claims are also frequently found for fresh and processed meat and poultry products. The association of these claims with healthier and safer foods has resulted in a dramatic increase in consumer demands and availability of these products. This has also created the opportunity for larger profit margins for manufacturers, as higher prices are often sought and paid for these products. For traditionally cured processed meat products, new choices have become available to health-conscious consumers. Thus, uncured, nonitrate/ nitrite-added meat and poultry products have been developed to satisfy consumer demands for "healthier" and "safer" processed meat and poultry products. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, meat products which permit or require nitrate or nitrite can also be manufactured without nitrates or nitrites, but must be labeled to reflect this. The labeling requirements state the term "uncured" must precede the common, usual, or descriptive name, with additional disclaimers including a statement that no nitrates or nitrites were added (Code of Federal Regulations [CFR], 2007a, 2007b). Sodium nitrite has been historically utilized for the purpose of altering the color, flavor, safety, and shelf-life characteristics of processed meat and poultry products. A wealth of research has shown that nitrite is responsible for the development of cured color and flavor, prevents lipid oxidation and warmedover flavors by serving as a strong antioxidant, and perhaps, most importantly, acts as a strong antimicrobial agent to control the outgrowth of Clostridium botulinum. Over the past four decades, nitrite has been scrutinized by media, consumers, and the scientific community regarding the formation of potentially carcinogenic nitrosamines. Although a great deal of research has been performed addressing this topic, no conclusive link between nitrite and cancer has ever been established. Perceptions still fresh in consumer minds may result in uncertainty and skepticism about this extremely important yet still controversial substance. Uncured, no-nitrate/nitrite-added meat products have provided consumers with purchasing choices for a growing number of different processed meat and poultry products. One would not expect to find any meat product labeled "uncured" having the appearance, aroma, or flavor characteristics of a nitriteadded cured product. This, however, is not the case as commercially available products labeled "uncured" which exhibit characteristics similar to those of a nitrite-cured product are readily accessible to consumers. This can lead to a great deal of consumer confusion. There are two types of uncured products commonly available to consumers. The first type is where no intention of replacing nitrate or nitrite was made during product manufacture. These products, as would be expected, exhibit appearance, aroma, and flavor characteristics of a product in which no nitrate-or nitrite-related curing reactions took place. The second type is, where there was an intentional replacement of nitrate or nitrite, resulting in products possessing attributes similar to those of nitrate-or nitrite-cured products. © 2009 Springer Science + Business Media, LLC.