Protective Cultures Enhance Quality and Safety of Meat Produce

16 Nov 2016 --- In manufacturing food products it is important also to consider safety and stability. Building hurdles into the recipe and processing is a well know way of obtaining the best possible results. 

Using starter cultures are regularly a part of this concept, which have been used for a long time. Some recognised areas for this are dairy production, fermented vegetables, sour dough, wine and production of cured meat products such as salami and whole muscles (cured dry ham, bresaola, pancetta etc.). 

Within the meat field a fairly new area is the application of protective cultures in the production of fresh meat produce such as fresh sausages and minced meat products but the concept may also be advantageous on cooked meat products nevertheless the way of application is different. For fresh meat products the culture can be applied during processing to the meat mince before further manufacturing (stuffing etc.) whereas for cooked meat products the culture has to be applied after cooking and cooling.

The major difference between the more traditional meat starter cultures application to cured meat products is that here the culture demands a temperature normally above 20°C to be competitive with the indigenous flora developing during this kind of processing. In cold stored products another biota will dominate, and consequently, a starter culture being able to grow under these conditions is required. Protective cultures are therefore characterized by being able to grow down to 2°C and most advantageous in MAP or vacuum-packed products in which Gram-negative bacteria are suppressed.

The mode of action of protective cultures are basically two different principles; either competitive exclusion e.g. by Lactobacillus sakei in Lyocarni BOX-13 or bacteriocin production e.g. by Carnobacterium in Lyoflora FP-18 but the principles may also be combined as in Lyocarni BOX-74. To ensure either concepts a controlling amount of culture should be applied.

The awareness of the pathogenic bacteria Listeria monocytogenes also in meat goods is growing due to several outbreaks with serious implications highlighting safety as a topic of great concern. Here a bacteriocin producing culture is a natural way to enhance safety since the bacteriocin is able to kill L. monocytogenes by contact. 

Generally the protective concept has numerous application opportunities for which Sacco can recommend solutions.