Fresh keeping technology of the hottest cured meat

Preservation technology of cured meat products

cured meat products refer to a kind of meat products made of meat raw materials through salting, baking or hanging. They cannot be directly imported and can only be eaten after cooking. This kind of food generally includes sausage, fragrant tripe, ham, salted duck, etc. their health problems are mainly nitrite residue, fat oxidation, rancidity and mildew, and their industrialization has been realized

professor wuyongnian, executive director of China animal products processing research association, vice chairman of the storage and preservation professional committee, and chief engineer of Nanjing Yongqing Food Preservation Technology Development Co., Ltd., believes that only by understanding the uses and action mechanisms of various food additives, mastering the correct use methods of food additives, and supporting the use of advanced packaging technology, can the quality of cured products be effectively guaranteed, And make the content of additives in cured products meet the relevant national food hygiene standards

first, the correct use of nitrite

1. The role and harm of nitrite

in the processing of cured products, nitrate is often added, including nitrate (mainly sodium salt, other potassium salt) and nitrite. Professor wuyongnian said that the use of nitrate in the production of cured products has three main functions: (1) hair color: nitrate can make cured products red and keep rose red. (2) Bacteriostasis: nitrate can inhibit the growth and reproduction of harmful microorganisms such as Clostridium botulinum. Sausage, sweet tripe and other cured products, due to their relative oxygen isolation, are easy to cause the growth and reproduction of anaerobic bacteria, thus causing harm to human body. Nitrate can effectively inhibit the growth and reproduction of anaerobic bacteria. (3) It helps to form the inherent cured meat of cured products

although nitrate has so many advantages, researchers also found that when it is added to meat products, it may also cause some harm, mainly in the following three aspects: (1) acute poisoning of nitrite. Some producers have a one-sided understanding of the chromogenic effect of nitrate, and believe that the more nitrate is added, the better the color. They misuse nitrate in the production process of salting and hot deformation of Chinese packaged and cured products. Acute poisoning can occur when the intake of nitrite reaches 0.3-0.5g; 1-3 grams of intake can cause death. (2) Form the carcinogen nitrosamine. When the content of nitrosamine reaches 200ppm, it will cause cancer. (3) The chemical properties of nitrate are particularly active, forming hundreds of unknown substances. Nitrite and its decomposition products can react with almost all substances such as protein and fat, and the substances produced are very complex. So far, researchers have not fully understood whether these products are harmful and how harmful they are, which is also a major hidden danger

2. The change of nitrate in meat products

the change process of nitrate and nitrite in meat products is as follows: nitrate is reduced by bacteria → nitrite is reduced in low pH environment → nitrite (continues to be in low pH environment) → nitric oxide + myoglobin (exists in muscle) → nitric oxide myoglobin (after heating, it is stable rose red) → ferrous white (pink)

when the production maturity period or storage period is long, if nitrates are used in fragrant tripe, ham and other products, and the temperature is high or the bacterial pollution is serious, a large amount of nitrates will be reduced to nitrite in a short time, resulting in a large amount of nitrite residue exceeding the standard. Therefore, the production of cured products is often carried out in autumn and winter. If it is produced in summer, the temperature must be controlled within 10 ℃. During the storage of the products with lost luster on the ground surface, the nitrite residue showed a trend of first increasing and then decreasing

3. Contradiction between national standard requirements and production

(1) usage of nitrate: gb2760-96 hygienic standard for the use of food additives stipulates that the dosage of nitrate is 0.5g/kg and the dosage of nitrite is 0.15g/kg. At present, many cured products manufacturers in China set the actual consumption of nitrate as: nitrate 0.3g/kg, nitrite 0.1g/kg. (2) Residue: the nitrite residue specified for many Chinese cured products is 20mg/kg. Red sausage is 30mg/kg, and Western products are 70mg/kg

in this way, if the previous amount of nitrate is added as allowed, the nitrite residue in the product will often exceed the standard

4. common problems and treatment methods in the production process

Professor Wu Yongnian introduced that in the production process of cured products, if nitrate is added according to the current national standards, sometimes the nitrite content in the products will exceed the standard. The nitrite content of meat products produced by some large well-known food enterprises in China sometimes exceeds the standard. Therefore, production enterprises should take correct countermeasures. (1) When the amount of nitrate reaches the standard and the nitrite residue exceeds the standard, the treatment method is: store the product in the factory for a period of time, wait for the nitrite residue to decline, and then leave the factory for sale after reaching the standard. (2) If the nitrite content in the product cannot be reduced, or the content of nitrosamine exceeds the requirements of national standards, the manufacturer should destroy these cured products

5. Rational use of nitrate

(1) correct use: add an appropriate amount of nitrate so that its dosage does not exceed the standard; Stir to make it mixed evenly; Control the processing temperature. (2) Add color AIDS, such as sodium isoascorbate in materials at the same time. (3) Use substitute substances. (to be continued)