Inhibition of pink color development in cooked, uncured ground turkey by the addition of citric acid

Citric acid (CIT, 0.3%) was assessed for its ability to reduce the pink col or defect in ground, cooked (80C) turkey breast associated with nicotinamid e hemochrome (NICHEME) and nitrosyl hemochrome (NITHEME). CIT incorporation in nicotinamide-treated (NIC, 1.0%) samples (CIT plus NIC) reduced (P<0.05 ) redness by 51% compared to the control and 63% compared to the NIC-only t reatment. CIT addition in sodium nitrite-treated (NIT, 10 ppm) samples (CIT plus NIT) was similar (P>0.05) in redness to the control and reduced (P<0. 05) the redness by 43% compared to the NIT- only treatment. All treatments containing citric acid lowered the pH and increased (P<0.05) cooking loss c ompared to samples without citric acid. At the level tested, addition of ci tric acid would provide poultry processors a means to eliminate or signific antly reduce the pink defect. However, the use of citric acid may require t he addition of nonacid sensitive water binding agents in order to circumven t the reduction in cooking yields.