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

Dry fermented sausage

Salt, nitrite, pH and temperature all control fermentation, as well as the safety and quality of dry fermented meat products. Traditionally salt has been used in very high quantities in fermented sausages because of its influence on the taste and its role in microbiological stability; but more importantly, salt is an essential constituent of dry fermented products because of its role in the fermentation process itself.

Figure 4.1 French fermented sausage

On account of the traditional recipes used for these products, there are not so many studies on salt reduction. What is more, the studies that have been carried out have not been successful in reducing salt in substantial amounts while maintaining the traditional characteristics of the products (Muguerza et al., 2004).

The main approaches explored and their results are as follows.

• Reduced salt

The lower salt limit found for a good quality salami-type fermented sausage is 2.5% NaCl; once it is lowered to 2.25% the sausages are less firm and the yield lower than with higher salt content (Ruusunen et al., 2005).

• Partial sodium replacement with other salts

Partial replacement by salts such as potassium, magnesium and calcium as well as phosphates has been examined in different combinations.

- Sodium content was partly decreased (from 2.6% to 1%) and partly replaced with a mixture of potassium (0.55%), magnesium (0.23%) and calcium (0.46%). A decrease in nitroso haem pigments was found in the final product. However, reduced firmness was found, which was expected given that the chloride ions were replaced with ascorbate ions, which do not react effectively with meat microfilaments. In addition, sensory acceptability was lower mainly due to the less salty taste (Gimeno et al., 1998).

- Potassium chloride, potassium lactate and glycine were used, in different combinations, as sodium chloride substitutes. An important flavour defect was found with substitutions greater than 40% for each of the three substitutes: bitterness with KCl substitution, sweet taste with glycine and a lactate flavour with K-lactate. Additionally, a loss in cohesion was detected when NaCl was replaced by potassium lactate at levels higher than 30% or by glycine at levels higher than 50% (Gou et al., 1996).