Mission: Not Impossible
Research to reduce fat and maintain taste in meat products has proven successful
by Ken Krizner, senior editor
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the television series "Mission: Impossible" began with a tape-recorded voice telling Mr. Phelps: "Your mission Jim, if you decide to accept it..."
During the 1990s, the tape-recorded voice is telling the meat industry: "Your mission processors, if you decide to accept it: reduce fat in meat products while maintaining texture, flavor and taste."
Mr. Phelps always accepted his assignment and usually had it solved in less than 60 minutes.
Processors have also accepted their assignments. The difference is that their fat-reduction task is ongoing.
Light meat products are sold because processors have been able, for the most part, to keep taste and flavor in a product while delivering lower fat, sodium and cholesterol.
Processors contacted by Meat Marketing & Technology all credit a leaner cut of meat as the reason behind the success of their low-fat products.
To be sure, it has not been completely successful. Low-fat ground beef has not lived up to expectations.
Officials at Armour Swift-Eckrich have pulled Healthy Choice low-fat ground beef off supermarket shelves. A spokeswoman for the company says the product will not be put back. It joins McDonald's McLean DeLuxe as a low-fat ground beef disappointment.
Still, at universities, research centers and laboratories across the country, work continues on fat reduction. Here is some of what's going on:
Milk protein hydrolysate: Designed for use in low-fat meat products, this hydrolysate will inhibit the cross-linkage of salt-soluble muscle protein in low fat meats. The amount of cross-linkage among salt-soluble proteins determines the texture and firmness of the processed meat.
The mission of reducing fat and maintaining taste in meat products continues to be ongoing. But it is in no way impossible.
Improving soy isolates: Soy isolates have lower flavor profiles than five years ago, notes Roger Mandigo, professor of animal science at the University of Nebraska.
This could improve the future of low-fat ground beef. Early soy isolates maintained a high flavor profile, resulting in a "beanie" taste in hamburger patties.
"You want people to taste the ground beef, not the soy," Mandigo says. "Soy suppliers have done their homework; their products are better."
Connective tissue: Commercial use is not yet set for this natural ingredient. By modifying connective tissues, researchers have had some success forcing it to act like a non-meat ingredient, such as soy and starch. Connective tissues have shown they can hold water in a meat product. The patty would maintain its juiciness and texture while reducing fat.
AquaCuisine: This alternative to beef and pork hot dogs combines Alaskan salmon, water, carrageenan, maltodextrin to produce a product similar to a conventional hot dog, but with less than .5 percent fat.
Konjac: Proven to be effective at water binding and maintaining textural properties, konjac flour gives the benefit of rapid hydration and solubility.
Hydration is controlled by particle size distribution. Water gelling and non-gelling is controlled by the presence of acetyl groups.
Natural tocopherols: USDA has approved their use as antioxidants for meat products.
Tocopherols may be added up to a level of 0.03 percent, and citric acid up to 0.01 percent of the meat product's fat content.
Fat substitutes: This market is growing rapidly, with sales of more than $200 million in 1993 (the last figures available), according to Chemical Marketing Reporter, a trade journal covering the fat substitute market.
Products include N-Lite, a line of starch-based replacers; Slendid, a protein-based substitute; and a substitute based on dextrose, protein and oat bran.
While many of these products show promise, there is skepticism that these new fat substitutes can favorably compare to traditional fat substitutes, such as carrageenan, says Melissa Shon of Chemical Marketing Reporter.