The demand for processed meat is steadily increasing across the world. Driven primarily by the ever growing global population, higher disposable incomes and the trend towards high-protein diets, the processed meat market is expected to be valued at nearly $800bn by 2018.1 While there might be regional market differences when it comes to the type of meat consumed, shelf life is high on the agenda of every industrial meat processor. However, meat preservation is not an issue purely for the modern consumer and current food industry. People have been facing the problem of preserving meat for centuries to overcome periods of meat shortages. All that time, finding a solution that could preserve meat over longer periods of time, without negatively affecting its sensory attributes, has been a priority.