LOW-FAT MEAT-PRODUCTS - TECHNOLOGICAL PROBLEMS WITH PROCESSING

Diet and health advice serve as a driving force to redirect the types of foods considered to be most beneficial in terms of improved health and quality of life for Americans. Although meat cuts have become lean er, products such as ground beef fresh pork sausage, coarse ground sau sages and emulsified sausages traditionally have higher levels of fat. However, these products offer the greatest opportunity for fat reduct ion by reformulation with fat substitutes. Fat replacements should con tribute a minimum of calories to a product and should not be detriment al to organoleptic qualities. Most substitutes can be categorized as: leaner meats, added water, protein-based substitutes, carbohydrate-bas ed substitutes and synthetic compounds, Reducing the fat content to si milar to 10% often results in cooked ground beef that is bland and dry with a hard, rubbery or mealy texture. Reformulation with fat substit utes can cause a reduction in particle binding, darker product color, lack of beef flavor, reduced browning reactions and shorter microbiolo gical shelf-life. Other problems that occur with low-fat (5-10%) fresh or cooked/smoked sausages are reduced cook yields, soft mushy interio rs, rubbery skin formation, excessive purge in vacuum packages, shorte r shelf-life and changes in sensory qualities after cooking or reheati ng. However, some combinations of fat replacements that mimic the mout hfeel and textural characteristics of fat offer potential for developm ent of low-fat meat products.