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

Frankfurters

Various approaches have been explored to reduce the salt content of frankfurters, most of them under experimental conditions and in combination with fat-reduced formulations. Here are some findings which focus on low-salt formulations:

• Partial sodium replacement

A combination of different levels of salt, modified tapioca starch, sodium citrate, wheat bran and fat content was explored. The main findings were as follows:

- A reduction in salt content of more than 20% (to less than 2.0% salt) resulted in frankfurters of less firm texture. Frankfurters low in fat (15%) and containing 1.5% salt had a softer texture than those containing 2.0 or 2.5% salt. The lowest salt content for acceptable texture with and without added phosphate was 1.5%.

- Wheat bran enhanced perceived saltiness more than modified tapioca starch when salt concentrations were less than 1.4%.

- Tapioca starch improved water and fat binding of low-salt frankfurters (Ruusunen et al., 2003).

• Sodium reduction with konjac and seaweed added

Sodium was reduced to a level of 1 g per 100 g of product while konjac and seaweed were added in separately and in combination.

Reducing salt (to 1/100 g) and incorporating a combination of sea spaghetti/konjac gel produced an increase in water release, fat release and cooking losses and reduced emulsion stability in the gel-emulsion systems. Frankfurters with added seaweed or konjac gel became slightly dry and, in the case of the added seaweed formulation, an off flavour was detected. Therefore acceptability was low. (Jimenez-Colomenero et al., 2010).