Abstract
Food authorities have not yet provided a definition for the term “clean label”. However, food producers and consumers frequently use this terminology for food products with few and recognisable ingredients. The meat industry faces important challenges in the development of clean-label meat products, as these contain an important number of functional additives. Nitrites are an essential additive that acts as an antimicrobial and antioxidant in several meat products, making it difficult to find a clean-label alternative with all functionalities. Another important additive not complying with the clean-label requirements are phosphates. Phosphates are essential for the correct development of texture and sensory properties in several meat products. In this review, we address the potential clean-label alternatives to the most common additives in meat products, including antimicrobials, antioxidants, texturisers and colours. Some novel technologies applied for the development of clean label meat products are also covered.
Highlights
Over the last few years, food producers have identified the term “clean label” as an important market trend
The authors observed that the shelf life of the products increased and that 0.25% chitosan concentration was enough to inhibit the growth of aerobic bacteria, whereas higher concentrations were needed to inhibit the lactic acid bacteria (LAB)
An example that has been evaluated in marinade chicken-meat products is SavorPhos (Formtech Solutions Inc., College Station, TX, USA), a proprietary blend labelled as citrus flour, all natural flavourings and less than 2% of sodium carbonate [90]
Summary
Over the last few years, food producers have identified the term “clean label” as an important market trend. It is challenging to replace nitrite with a single antimicrobial compound owing to its broad-spectrum activity [46], especially against inactivation of C. botulinum spores in cured meat products [21], a combination of nitrite and different antimicrobial agents may be successful In this way, De Oliveira et al [47] reported that different levels of winter savoury with 100 ppm of sodium nitrite allowed them to control the growth of C. perfringens on mortadella sausages. Long recognised as a source of natural antimicrobials, combined with nitrite (150 ppm) and grape seed extract, offers a potential combination to inhibit L. monocytogenes growth in natural and organic processed meats [50]. Novel thermal and non-thermal techniques [53,54] and the use of EOs as part of the hurdle technology together with other compounds and other processing technologies, such as the encapsulation of EOs in nanostructures, are essential to improve the shelf life and the sensory attributes of meat products
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