Processed Meat Products (Part I)

As intensive livestock production systems cannot be expanded indefinitely due to limited

feed availability and for environmental reasons, several measures must be taken to meet
humans’growing meat demand. The only possible alternatives are making better use of the meat
resources available and reducing waste of edible livestock parts to a minimum. This is where
meat processing plays a prominent role. It fully utilizes meat resources, including nearly all
edible livestock parts for human food consumption.
Meat processing is the manufacture of meat products from muscle meat, animal fat and
certain non-meat additives. Additives are used to enhance product flavour and appearance. They
can also be used to increase product volume. For specific meat preparations, animal by-products
such as internal organs, skin or blood, are also well suited for meat processing. Meat processing
can create different types of product composition that maximizes the use of edible livestock parts
and are tasty, attractive and nourishing.Thus, there are economic, dietary and sensory aspects that
make meat processing one of the most valuable mechanisms for adequately supplying animal
protein to human populations, as the following explains:

 All edible livestock parts that are suitable for processing into meat products are optimally
used. In addition to muscle trimmings, connective tissue, organs and blood, this includes
casings of animal origin that are used as sausage containers.
 Lean meat is one of the most valuable but also most costly foods and may not regularly be
affordable to certain population segments. The blending of meat with cheaper plant
products through manufacturing can create low-cost products that allow more consumers
access to animal protein products.
 Unlike fresh meat, many processed meat products can be made shelf-stable, which means
that they can be kept without refrigeration either as (1) canned heat sterilized products, or
(2) fermented and slightly dried products or (3) products where the low level of product
moisture and other preserving effects inhibit bacterial growth. Such shelf-stable meat
products can conveniently be stored and transported without refrigeration and can serve as
the animal protein supply in areas that have no cold chain provision.
 Meat processing “adds value” to products. Value-added meat products display specific
flavour, taste, colour or texture components, which are different from fresh meat. Such
treatments do not make products necessarily cheaper; on the contrary in many cases they
become even more expensive than lean meat. But they offer diversity to the meat food
sector, providing the combined effect of nutritious food and food with excellent taste.

The first preparatory step for processing of meat into meat products is the product-oriented
selection of raw animal materials, taking into account their quality and processing suitability and
the characteristics of the meat products to be fabricated. Some meat products require lean meat
without adhering fat or connective tissue, while others have a higher fat and/or connective tissue
contents. Other products require firm animal fats, for others soft fats are better suited. Choosing
appropriate raw materials is indispensable for efficient meat processing and is best done by visual
selection and grading according to the tissue-specific properties.
MEAT PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY - STANDARD PRACTICES

Meat processing technologies include, on the one hand, purely technical processes such as:

 Cutting, chopping, comminuting

 Mixing, tumbling
 Stuffing/filling of semi-fabricated meat mixes into casings, synthetic films, cans etc.
 Heat treatment

On the other hand, chemical or biochemical processes, which often go together with the technical
processes, are also part of meat processing technology such as:

 Salting and curing

 Utilization of spices and additives
 Smoking
 Fermentation and drying

In modern meat processing, most of the processing steps can be mechanized. In fact,
modern meat processing would not be possible without the utilization of specialized equipment.
Such equipment is available for small-scale, medium-sized or large-scale operations.

NON-MEAT INGREDIENTS
Categories of non-meat ingredients

Along with the main components meat and animal fat, a wide range of substances of non-
meat origin are used as ingredients in processed meat products. Some of them are absolutely
necessary, such as salt and spices. Others are used for specific products. One way of categorizing
non-meat ingredients is by source. They are either:

 chemical substances or
 of plant origin or
 of animal origin

Other classification criteria for non-meat ingredients are, whether they are additives or full
foods (“food by itself”) or whether they have functional properties or not.

Additives are usually substances, which are not normally consumed as food by itself, but which
are added to develop certain technological and quality characteristics (for examples salt, curing
agents, spices, water binding and gelation enhancing substances). In contrast, vegetables, flours,
eggs, etc. could be considered as full food ingredients.
Most ingredients are functional, which describes their ability to introduce or improve certain
quality characteristics. The functional properties of ingredients include their impact on:

 taste
 flavour
 appearance
 colour
 texture
 water binding
 counteracting fat separation
 preservation

CATEGORIES OF PROCESSED MEAT PRODUCTS

Based on the processing technologies used and taking into account the treatment of raw
materials and the individual processing steps, it is possible to categorize processed meat products
in six broad groups.

Meat products grouped according to the processing technology applied:

Fresh processed meat products

These products are meat mixes composed of comminuted muscle meat with varying
quantities of animal fat. Products are salted only, curing is not practiced. Non-meat ingredients
are added in smaller quantities for improvement of flavour and binding, in low-cost versions
larger quantities are added for volume extension. All meat and non-meat ingredients are added
fresh (raw). Heat treatment (frying, cooking) is applied immediately prior to consumption to
make the products palatable. If the fresh meat mixes are filled in casings, they are defined as
sausages (e.g. frying sausages). If other portioning is customary, the products are known as
patties, kebab, etc. Convenience products, such as chicken nuggets, have a similar processing
technology and can also be included in this group.

Cured meat cuts

Cured meat cuts are made of entire pieces of muscle meat and can be sub-divided into two
groups, cured-raw meats and cured-cooked meats. The curing for both groups is in principle
similar: The meat pieces are treated with small amounts of nitrite, either as dry salt or as salt
solution in water. The difference between the two groups of cured meats is:

 Cured-raw meats do not undergo any heat treatment during their manufacture. They
undergo a processing period, which comprises curing, fermentation and ripening in
controlled climatized conditions, which makes the products palatable. The products are
consumed raw/uncooked.
 Cured-cooked meats, after the curing process of the raw muscle meat, always undergo
heat treatment to achieve the desired palatability.

Raw-cooked meat products

The product components are muscle meat, fat and non-meat ingredients which are
processed raw, i.e. uncooked by comminuting and mixing. The resulting viscous mix/batter is
portioned in sausages or otherwise and thereafter submitted to heat treatment, i.e. “cooked”. The
heat treatment induces protein coagulation which results in a typical firm-elastic texture for raw-
cooked products. In addition to the typical texture the desired palatability and a certain degree of
bacterial stability is achieved.

Precooked-cooked meat products

Precooked-cooked meat products contain mixes of lower-grade muscle trimmings, fatty

tissues, head meat, animal feet, animal skin, blood, liver and other edible slaughter by-products.
There are two heat treatment procedures involved in the manufacture of precooked-cooked
products. The first heat treatment is the precooking of raw meat materials and the second heat
treatment the cooking of the finished product mix at the end of the processing stage. Precooked-
cooked meat products are distinguished from the other categories of processed meat products by
precooking the raw materials prior to grinding or chopping, but also by utilizing the greatest
variety of meat, animal by-product and non-meat ingredients.

Raw-fermented sausages

Raw-fermented sausages are uncooked meat products and consist of more or less coarse
mixtures of lean meats and fatty tissues combined with salts, nitrite (curing agent), sugars and
spices and other non-meat ingredients filled into casings. They receive their characteristic
properties (flavour, firm texture, red curing colour) through fermentation processes. Shorter or
longer ripening phases combined with moisture reduction (“drying”) are necessary to build-up
the typical flavour and texture of the final product. The products are not subjected to any heat
treatment during processing and are in most cases distributed and consumed raw.

Dried meat products

Dried meat products are the result of the simple dehydration or drying of lean meat in
natural conditions or in an artificially created environment. Their processing is based on the
experience that dehydrated meat, from which a substantial part of the natural tissue fluid was
evaporated, will not easily spoil. Pieces of lean meat without adherent fat are cut to a specific
uniform shape that permits the gradual and equal drying of whole batches of meat. Dried meat is
not comparable to fresh meat in terms of shape and sensory and processing properties, but has
significantly longer shelf-life. Many of the nutritional properties of meat, in particular the protein
content, remain unchanged through drying.

COMPREHENSION

Check your understanding

1. What is meat processing?

2. Which are the advantages of meat processing?
3. Which are the edible parts of the slaughtered animal used in meat processing?
4. What is the first preparatory step for processing of meat into meat products?
5. Which are the technical processes included in meat processing technology?
6. Which are the chemical or biochemical processes?
7. Name the main non-meat ingredients which are used in processed meat products?
8. Refer to the categories of processed meat products according to the processing technology
applied.
9. What are fresh processed meat products?
10. How can cured meat cuts be sub-divided?
11. Which are the main components in raw-cooked meat products?
12. What do precooked-cooked meat products contain?
13. What are dried meat products?