Review Advances in ingredient and processing systems for meat and meat products Jochen Weiss ⁎, Monika Gibis, Valerie Schuh, Hanna Salminen Dept. of Food Structure and Functionality, Institute of Food Science and Biotechnology, University of Hohenheim, Garbenstr. 21/25, 70599 Stuttgart, Germany abstract article info Article history: Received 1 March 2010 Received in revised form 30 April 2010 Accepted 6 May 2010 Keywords: Meat products Structure creation Processing Novel ingredients Changes in consumer demand of meat products as well as increased global competition are causing an unprecedented spur in processing and ingredient system developments within the meat manufacturing sector. Consumers demand healthier meat products that are low in salt, fat, cholesterol, nitrites and calories in general and contain in addition health-promoting bioactive components such as for example carotenoids, unsaturated fatty acids, sterols, and fibers. On the other hand, consumers expect these novel meat products with altered formulations to taste, look and smell the same way as their traditionally formulated and processed counterparts. At the same time, competition is forcing the meat processing industry to use the increasingly expensive raw material “meat” more efficiently and produce products at lower costs. With these changes in mind, this article presents a review of novel ingredient systems and processing approaches that are emerging to create high quality, affordable meat products not only in batch mode but also in large-scale continuous processes. Fat replacers, fat profile modification and cholesterol reduction techniques, new texture modifiers and alternative antioxidant and antimicrobial systems are being discussed. Modern processing equipment to establish continuously operating product manufacturing lines and that allow new meat product structures to be created and novel ingredients to be effectively utilized including vacuum fillers, grinders and fine dispersers, and slicers is reviewed in the context of structure creation in meat products. Finally, trends in future developments of ingredient and processing systems for meat products are highlighted. © 2010 The American Meat Science Association. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Contents 1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197 2. Advanced ingredient systems for meat products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197 2.1. Modulations of lipid content and composition in meat products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197 2.1.1. Ingredients that can serve as meat fat replacers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197 2.1.2. Changes in fat profiles in meat products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198 2.2. Reduction of cholesterol level in meat products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198 2.3. Salt and sodium reduction in processed meat products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200 2.4. Nitrite reduction or replacement in meat products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200 2.4.1. Decreased oxidation by the use of novel antioxidants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201 2.4.2. Increased shelf life by the use of nitrite substitutes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202 2.5. Enzymes as novel texture modifiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203 2.5.1. Structure breakers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204 2.5.2. Structure makers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204 3. Advances in meat processing systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205 3.1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205 3.2. Forward feed systems: low and high vacuum fillers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205 3.3. Coarse meat grinders and fine meat homogenizer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206 3.3.1. Coarse meat grinders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206 3.3.2. Fine meat homogenizers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208 3.4. Slicers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209 4. Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210 Meat Science 86 (2010) 196–213 ⁎ Corresponding author. Tel.: +49 711 459 24415; fax: +49 711 459 24446. E-mail address: j.weiss@uni-hohenheim.de (J. Weiss). 0309-1740/$ – see front matter © 2010 The American Meat Science Association. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.meatsci.2010.05.008 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Meat Science journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/meatsci