Kemin’s food safety ingredient fights Listeria while slashing sodium

24 Aug 2020 --- Kemin Industries’ food safety ingredient BactoCEASE can help address increasing demands for sodium reduction, while also tapping into the clean label trend. The liquid-based antimicrobial ingredient for protein applications is designed to protect ready-to-eat meat and poultry products from Listeria monocytogenes. Notably, it can create an overall healthier product without sacrificing on shelf life, according to the company.

“As today’s industry continues to grow and progress forward, microbial challenges are becoming more apparent,” says Courtney Schwartz, Marketing Director of Kemin Food Technologies – Americas. “Keeping your products safe is a top priority and creating food safety solutions is ours. BactoCEASE, a propionic acid-based antimicrobial solution, is a defender against microbial spoilage in ready-to-eat meats.”

Traditionally, both sodium lactate and sodium diacetate have been the industry’s food safety choice, according to the company. However, these ingredients are used at a higher application rate, which in turn increases cost-in-use and may negatively impact the final product’s sensory attributes.

BactoCEASE NV was launched earlier this year as an all-natural solution to replace synthetic preservatives, while also addressing the growing consumer demand for clean label ingredients. The ingredient is also marketed to extend the shelf life of food products as well as conventional preservatives without negatively impacting the product’s texture or flavor, notes Kemin. 

Industry anti-Listeria launches proliferate
In the ongoing industry battle against Listeria, a number of solutions have come onto the scene. Most recently, Niacet announced its Provian Plus, a clean label offering formulated specifically for plant-based meat alternatives. 

BactoCEASE is designed to protect ready-to-eat meat and poultry products from Listeria monocytogenes (Credit: Kemin Industries).The “easily soluble” powder, which is made from naturally fermented vinegar, can be applied as such or can be pre-dissolved. “Sensory evaluations have shown that vinegar-based products like Provian Plus do not have an effect on taste smell or structure. It controls pathogens like Listeria and spoilage bacteria like lactic acid bacteria very efficiently,” remarks Pieter Paul Lamers, Managing Director at Niacet. 

At FiE 2019, Corbion also released its range of Listeria-controlling, vinegar-based ingredients in its Verdad portfolio. The products are specially designed for use in meat applications, fish, ready-to-eat meals and prepared food.  

On the packaging front, Aptar Food + Beverage introduced InvisiShield platform technology, an anti-pathogenic packaging solution for sealed containers, to the fresh produce sector. The technology releases a chlorine dioxide antimicrobial solution onto the product to protect it from common food-borne pathogens such as Hepatitis A, E. coli and Salmonella. As an undetectable GRAS-certified solution, the company’s latest innovation is touted as a “game-changing step in reshaping the food safety paradigm.” 

Detecting Listeria effectively
Further promoting food safety, Kemin also offers in-house customer lab services to help customer-partners get to market faster. Services include non-inoculated studies, plate counts and challenge studies to test microbial spoilage and provide proof-of-principle. 

In April, Hygiena, a company focused on microbial detection, monitoring and identification technology, introduced the InSite L. mono Glo Environmental Surface Screening Test. InSite L. mono Glo is an easy-to-use, self-contained, environmental sampling and screening test for Listeria species and Listeria monocytogenes (L. mono). Each device contains liquid media containing antibiotics, growth enhancers, and color-changing compounds specific to Listeria plus fluorescent compounds specific to Listeria monocytogenes. Within 48 hours, the two-step test changes color in the presence of Listeria species, while illumination with UV light reveals L. monocytogenes if present.

Edited by Missy Green