EU Lactate Approval for Fresh Minced Meat Welcomed

The amendment permits meat producers to add lactate and acetate, which enables shelf-life extension. Salts of lactate and acetate are known to battle micro-organisms, stimulate color retention and have a favorable pH.

1/25/2011 --- The recent update of Directive 95/2/EC approves the use of sodium and potassium salts of both lactate and acetate in pre-packed preparations of fresh minced meat on the European market. Both ingredients are effective to extend shelf life and to prevent color changes in minced meat.

Fresh minced meat is specifically subject to spoilage bacteria and color changes. The amendment permits meat producers to add lactate and acetate, which enables shelf-life extension. Salts of lactate and acetate are known to battle micro-organisms, stimulate color retention and have a favorable pH.

A recent published study in Food Chemistry (Rodriguez 2010) investigated the underlying mechanism of lactate color stabilization in meat. The research looked at the mechanism responsible for color retention in presence and absence of lactate. The study confirmed that lactate acts as a substrate for the metmyoglobin reducing process and improves color stability.

Category Manager Meat Preservation at lactate supplier Purac, Lonneke van Dijk said: “This change in legislation allows fresh minced meat producers to develop innovative products while reaching acceptable levels of shelf life. Purac’s PURASAL HiPure P Plus and Opti.Form PPA Plus are ideal for maintaining color and increasing the shelf life of various fresh minced meat products. Both Purac products maintain microbial stability, are pH-neutral and sodium-free, making them an excellent choice for processing into low sodium food products. Solutions like these make Purac leading in food and meat preservation”.