Shelf-life extending ingredients come in liquid and dry forms, making it easy to add to brines, marinades, spice blends or direct application to meat. This process adds desirable flavors while enusring quality.
Corbion recently introduced organic vinegar products that utilize unique clean-label buffers and provide meat and poultry processors with non-GMO and organic labeling options. There’s also a new line of natural powder products labeled as cultured sugar and vinegar.
“They are low in sodium and provide pathogen and shelf life protection as well as a specific product used for mold inhibition,” Rourke says.
The company now has a clean-label antimicrobial that rivals potassium sorbate for mold inhibition, even in applications most vulnerable to mold, such as high-moisture meat snacks. The ingredient also provides pathogen protection.
Shelf-life extending ingredients come in liquid and dry forms, making it easy to add to brines, marinades, spice blends or direct application to meat. This process adds desirable flavors while ensuring quality.
“Since it is applied at a lower application rate, it contributes less sodium and lower cost-in-use than lactates and diacetates,” says Courtney Schwartz, senior marketing communications manager. “We also offer a label-friendly vinegar-based product for food safety designed to protect meat and poultry products from foodborne pathogens and extend product shelf life by delaying the growth of spoilage bacteria.”
Kemin’s buffered vinegar solutions have no negative effect on meat quality, including parameters such as water-holding capacity, protein denaturation, color or flavor. This line is available in both liquid, dry and no-sodium forms, making it easy to add to brines, marinades, spice blends or direct application to meat products. It is also available in a certified organic form.
For fresh ground meats and fresh poultry, Kalsec, Kalamazoo, Michigan, offers a unique combination of vinegar and rosemary. Inclusion may improve quality, thus extending shelf life, while also assisting with safety.
“Benefits include color and oxidative stability as well as a 2- to 3-log reduction in spoilage (psychrothropic as well as total plate counts) microbes,” says Poulson Joseph, principal scientist. “This ingredient combination has very low or no flavor impact and does not compromise texture.”
Wenda Ingredients, Naperville, Illinois, offers all-natural, clean-label pathogen protection ingredients made from fruit and spice extracts. The product line includes a true “uncured” ingredient solution free of celery powder and chemical nitrites.
“By eliminating concentrated nitrites for the purpose of pathogen protection, we are delivering on the promise of truthfulness and transparency for consumers that are buying uncured labeled meats,” says Chad Boeckman, director of marketing and national accounts. “Our products are different in that we are using several hurdles for pathogen control, including polyphenol and flavonoid antioxidants as well as common pathogen protection ingredients for the carrier of these natural solutions, such as dried vinegar.”
Ensuring farm-to-fork freshness is possible through the use of ingredient technology. Extended shelf life helps reduce waste and ensure safety. It allows consumers to shop fresh and be confident about the quality of their purchases.
