{"id":4418,"date":"2019-03-14T08:50:58","date_gmt":"2019-03-14T08:50:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/amerexingredientes.com\/?p=4418"},"modified":"2022-09-27T10:42:25","modified_gmt":"2022-09-27T10:42:25","slug":"nitrite-replacement-colour-starters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/amerexingredientes.com\/en\/nitrite-replacement-colour-starters\/","title":{"rendered":"SEEN FOR OURSELVES – Ripening starters for nitrites replacement in food industry"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Welcome again to our latest blog post! This post will be the first of many in our brand new section called \u2018Seen for Ourselves\u2019, as this section is all about empirical results of trials carried out in the pilot plant of Amerex facilities. You will get to know first-hand the experiences at our plant, how things work there and how each day we get a step closer to our goal of creating fully clean label products. Let\u2019s dive in:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last month we carried out a number of such trials with a common element: one of our starters specially designed to generate colour on the final product without the presence of nitrites. In food industry, particularly in the meat sector, nitrates and nitrites are considered necessary to start the nitrification process that imparts a characteristic colour to the final product. Here is a simple explanation of what happens during this process:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Nitrate is reduced to nitrite, which is further reduced to produce nitric oxide. This nitric oxide combines with myoglobin in muscles to form nitrosomyoglobin, which is responsible for the typical colour of cured meat. In case of cooked meat, temperature causes this nitrosomyoglobin to be transformed into nitrosylhemochrome, responsible for its characteristic pink colour.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Nitrates and nitrites have been considered a requisite in the food industry not only for their ability to generate colour, but also because they guarantee certain safety in the products by preventing the development of pathogenic bacteria, especially Clostridium botulinum<\/em>, which causes botulism disease. In addition, the corresponding authority regulates the maximum dosage that can be incorporated into each food under specific legislation<\/a>. It is apparent that we need to be cautious when it comes to nitrates because even though they are found naturally, for example in various vegetables such as lettuce, celery or even in water, a part of them is transformed into nitrites during the digestion process. These nitrites, in turn react with the stomach amino acids forming nitrosamines, which are carcinogenic substances. Finding nitrites directly in food is even more dangerous. For this reason, it is necessary to find substitutes to evade the presence of these harmful additives in products that we usually consume.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This has led us to conducting numerous trails throughout February using one of our main starters, capable of performing this nitrification reaction sans a natural or artificial source of nitrates or nitrites. Let\u2019s look at one of our trials to see the difference between using nitrites and one of our cultures selected from a wide array of starters. We selected a specific starter for this trial involving a cooked pork loin as the final product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For these trials, we used fresh pork loins of about 250 – 300 g, which we injected with different brines. Here is a description of each sample:<\/p>\n\n\n\n