Low salt pig-meat products and novel formulations

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
   1. Objectives:
   2. Learning goals
   3. Teacher page
2. Section 1: Salt and Human Health
   1. Sodium and human physiology
   2. Trends in salt consumption
   3. Dietary salt as a health hazard
   4. Epidemiological studies
   5. High blood pressure
   6. Stroke
   7. Death from cardiovascular disease
   8. Osteoporosis
   9. Stomach cancer
   10. References
3. Section 2: Salt Content of Pig-meat Products
   1. Salt concentration in different pig-meat products
   2. Low-salt products in Europe
   3. Comparisons between various processed products
   4. References
4. Section 3: Science of salt in pig products
   1. From muscle to meat
   2. Effect of salt content on chemical and physical properties and implications for organoleptic properties
   3. Problems related to meat pH
   4. Effect of salt content on microbiological properties in processed meat products
   5. Consequences of reducing salt content
   6. References
5. Section 4 Low-salt Pig Meat Formulations
   1. General points to consider when manufacturing processed pork
   2. Balancing low salt with substitutes, enhancers and alternatives
   3. Effect of low sodium on eating quality, shelf-life and functional properties
   4. Optimum concentrations
   5. Cooked sausages
   6. Frankfurters
   7. Dry fermented sausage
   8. Ground patties
   9. Dry-cured ham
   10. Restructured meats (wet cured ham)
   11. Bacon
   12. Novel approaches in product formulation
   13. Other approaches
   14. Conclusions
   15. References
6. Discussion
7. Glossary
8. Completion
   1. Comments
   2. Self assessment
   3. Evaluation
9. Acknowledgment

Section 4 Low-salt Pig Meat Formulations

So far you have seen the effects of eating too much salt on human health and you have also considered the effects of salt content on the organoleptic, microbiological, chemical and physical proprieties of pig-meat products.

Activity 4.1

To help you revise the work you have done in previous sections of this LR, answer the following questions:

1 List the main effects that salt might have on human health.

2 List the effects that salt has on organoleptic, microbiological, chemical and physical properties of pig-meat products.

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As you might expect, deciding how to reduce salt in pig-meat products whilst maintaining its benefits is not straightforward, and this is a challenge in today's meat industry. There no single ingredient that can substitute for all salt effects. Several substitutes and approaches have been developed or tested during recent years. Those that have received the most attention are:

- lowering the level of sodium chloride added

- replacing all or part of the sodium chloride with other chloride salts (such as potassium chloride, calcium chloride)

- replacing part of the sodium chloride with non-chloride salts (such as phosphates and lactate)

- lowering or replacing part of the sodium chloride and adding hydrocolloids (such as carrageenan) or protein (such as soy)

- using packaging technology (such as vacuum packs and modified-atmosphere packaging)

- using new processing techniques (such as high-pressure processing)

- a combination of any of the above approaches.

Activity 4.2

Based on what you already know, can you think how each approach works when used instead of salt? List the possible advantages and disadvantages of each approach.

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