Ingredients

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Enhancing the meat-eating experience and improving overall value of meat products has been a longtime goal for processors. There have been some incredible advancements in the ingredients that improve texture, binding and water-holding capacity.

World travel may not be for everyone – especially right now – but consumers can still enjoy foreign cultures without leaving their home. Indian food is a hot food trend. It’s a flavorful cuisine with a wealth of complex flavors and spices, and there are plenty of entrée options for consumers who want to settle down with a good Bollywood movie.

Ingredient technology to produce clean-label products that meet quality expectations is leading development in gums, binders and other emulsifiers. Additionally, use of gums, binders and emulsifiers to make plant-protein-based meat analogs more similar to meat products continues to progress, says Wes Schilling, professor of food science at Mississippi State University.

The three major functional ingredients areas — salt, sodium nitrate and lactates such as sodium lactates and sodium diacetate — have the biggest impact on food safety, shelf life and product quality. 

Driven by consumer preference for natural or clean-label products, shelf-life-extending ingredients that are growing continue to be natural or clean-label ingredients.

Salt contributes much to meat products — flavor, water-holding capacity and food safety. The top challenge for meat and poultry processors is that sodium comes primarily from the sodium chloride in brines, marinades and seasonings along with the leavening agents in batters and breadings and the sodium bicarbonate in bread crumbs. 

Consumers want sweet and spicy marinades with interesting flavor profiles, but clean ingredients.

Good barbecue takes time. Making the perfect rack of ribs, brisket or turkey leg requires the right amount of smoke, heat and seasoning. To top it off, the right barbecue sauce adds the perfect finishing touch (except in the case of dry rub barbecue). 

Several companies recently started using natural antioxidants and limiting the use of synthetic versions, such as butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) or butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT).

Processors continue to increase the use of natural antimicrobial ingredients as they move toward cleaner labels. Identifying these natural compounds or groups of compounds that function singularly or together to be effective as antimicrobial systems in their products remains a top development area for them, says Jeff Sindelar, extension meat specialist and associate professor in Department of Animal Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.