Elizabeth Fuhrman

For the extension of meat shelf life, a trend toward natural plant extracts such as rosemary, green tea and acerola extract has occurred.

The prime benefit of post-packaging pasteurization is food safety through re-pasteurizing the surface on products that were re-exposed after cooking.

Processors and researchers alike have been working on reducing sodium in meat and poultry products for years now and have achieved significant results. This is not without its challenges, though.

The biggest factor that affects the ability of meat and poultry to be formed is the initial quality of the meat.

The greatest challenge whole-muscle product processors face daily is the natural size and shape variation inherent in any whole-muscle product and process.

The grinding and stuffing process must handle variations in raw meat and poultry to achieve homogeneous and consistent quality products.

The latest development for antioxidant ingredients used for meat and poultry products is a better understanding of how the animal proteins spoil and the development of antioxidant combinations for superior shelf-life extension.

The biggest change occurring with antimicrobial ingredients is the increased use of natural antimicrobials, especially in the formulation of cured products.

Originally used as a sauce to flavor meat at barbecue restaurants, many different varieties of barbecue exist today, ranging from sweet to sour to spicy and appearing on a multitude of proteins.

Phosphate is unique in that it is the only ingredient other than salt that has been traditionally used and interacts directly to modify meat proteins and protein functionality.