Meat+Poultry - August 2019 - 33

oday's consumers are giving themselves
permission to enjoy indulgent snacks,
reports The NPD Group, Chicago. This
includes the growing range of ready-to-eat
meats often combined with cheeses, crackers,
nuts, fruits, chocolate pieces or even a hardboiled egg, all packaged in multi-compartment,
convenient, single-serve snack packs. What
consumers fail to often recognize is that these
are highly perishable products and cannot be
treated like other snacks, such as the shelfstable granola bar or bag of pretzels they throw
into their backpack or purse where it remains
for hours on end.
Ready-to-eat proteins, including cold
cuts, deli/luncheon meats and a number of
charcuterie, are perishable foods. But when
packed into a snack with accompaniments, it's
easy for consumers to forget.
Further complicating this growing segment
of products is the better-for-you positioning
many meat snack marketers are making.
They have found that organic, uncured and
free of artificial preservative claims provide a
healthful halo to ready-to-eat meats. With these
claims, processed meats now appeal to many
health and wellness shoppers; however, these
claims require the elimination of powerful food
safety ingredients.
By not chemically curing pepperoni
or adding any artificial preservatives, the
consumer has been given permission to
indulge on this high-protein food that is
also a notable source of fat and sodium.
Permission to enjoy such snacks is the result
of the wellness-driven acknowledgement
that balance is key. Brands are supporting
this by offering meat snacks walking the line
between nutrition and indulgence, according to
research conducted by The NPD Group.
Formulators are responsible for making
sure these snacks stay safe during transport
until the time of consumption. That's where
food safety ingredients enter the equation.

Hormel Foods Corp.

PREVENTING FOODBORNE ILLNESS
The Atlanta-based Centers for Disease
Control (CDC) and Prevention estimates that
each year 48 million people get sick from a
foodborne illness, 128,000 are hospitalized
and 3,000 die. Pathogenic microorganisms are
often the culprit.

Almost all (about 95 percent) foodborne
disease outbreaks where meat and poultry are
identified as the potential vehicle, are the result
of undercooking, pathogen proliferation or
cross contamination, according to CDC data.
A comprehensive food safety plan for meat
and poultry products must address all hazards
before, during and after the products leave the
manufacturing facility.
Even though the US meat and poultry
processing industry may be one of the
cleanest in the world, there remains a need
to offer extra protection against microbial
contamination, in particular pathogens such as
Escherichia coliform, Listeria monocytogenes
and Salmonella, the bugs that cause foodborne
illness. Thanks to many behind-the-scenes
additives - natural and traditional chemical -
processors are able to be proactive and provide
consumers an extra defense against potentially
deadly microbes. This is important since even
in the cleanest conditions, the risk of contamination cannot be completely prevented.
Certain foodborne pathogens may be
present on raw foods, with proper cooking
and handling typically eliminating the
potential for foodborne illness. But the
possibility for contamination after cooking
exists. This is a major concern with readyto-eat meat products that do not undergo
an additional lethal cooking step prior to
consumption, namely the types of meats
found in snack packs.
These diced, sliced and julienne strips of
bacon, chicken, ham, pastrami, prosciutto,
roast beef, salami, turkey and more are
particularly vulnerable to Listeria, which is
omnipresent in the environment. This makes
pathogen proliferation control paramount
in ready-to-eat meats, in particular meats
destined for snack pack assembly facilities.
Some of these facilities are nothing more than
commissaries where line workers portion snack
pack components into containers for store- and
café-branded merchandising. Listeria is on the
workers and it is in the air and now it's likely on
the meat. Listeria can live and thrive on plastic,
metal and in water, too.

SHELF LIFE AND SAFETY
Preservatives are added to ready-to-eat meats
to assist with food safety and extend shelf

More consumers are
selecting ready-to-eat
meat snacks that require
food safety ingredients
in order to stay safe from
packaging to consumption.

www.meatpoultry.com | 08.19 | MEAT+ POULTRY

http://www.meatpoultry.com

Meat+Poultry - August 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Meat+Poultry - August 2019