Meat is highly nutritious and contributes with several essential nutrients which are difficult to obtain in the right amounts from other food sources. Industrially processed meat contains ...preservatives including salts, possibly exerting negative effects on health. During maturation, some processed meat products develop a specific microbiota, forming probiotic metabolites with physiological and biological effects yet unidentified, while the concentration of nutrients also increases. Meat is a source of saturated fatty acids, and current WHO nutrition recommendations advise limiting saturated fat to less than ten percent of total energy consumption. Recent meta-analyses of both observational and randomized controlled trials do not support any effect of saturated fat on cardiovascular disease or diabetes. The current evidence regarding the effect of meat consumption on health is potentially confounded, and there is a need for sufficiently powered high-quality trials assessing the health effects of meat consumption. Future studies should include biomarkers of meat intake, identify metabolic pathways and include detailed study of fermented and other processed meats and their potential of increasing nutrient availability and metabolic effects of compounds.
Edible microcarriers are essential for developing cell-based meat in large-scale cell cultures. As they are required to be embedded in the final products, the microcarriers should be edible, ...biocompatible, cost-effective, and pathogen-free. The invention of edible animal-free microcarriers would be a breakthrough for cell-based meat culture. We reviewed the fabrication techniques and the materials of microcarriers, and found that plant proteins, having diverse structures and composition, could possess the active domains that are hypnotized to replace the animal-based extracellular matrix (ECM) for meat culture applications. In addition, the bioactive peptides in plants have been reviewed and most of them were resulted from enzyme hydrolysis. Therefore, plant proteins with rich bioactive peptides have the potential in the development microcarriers. Our work provided some new trains of thought for developing plant-based biomaterials as ECM materials and advances the fabrication of microcarriers for meat culture.
The promotion of meat substitutes to reduce meat intake is a promising way to reduce the environmental and public health externalities of meat consumption while preserving the important role of taste ...and texture in meat products. However, the market for meat substitutes is developing more slowly than expected. Therefore, we analyze the factors associated with the heterogeneity in meat substitute consumption in Germany, a country where meat traditionally plays an important role. We use revealed preference data on meat substitute sales from 1025 individual retailers, sociodemographic data, and election results from 92 regions in Germany over the period 2017–2021, to analyze whether differences in meat substitute consumption are associated with consumers' political orientation (liberal/left or conservative/right) and socio-demographic variables. We also investigate whether election results for parties with stronger climate protection goals are associated with meat substitute consumption. Our results show that meat substitute consumption varies significantly across Germany and that this is related to differences in socio-demographic characteristics and voting behavior across regions. Voting for the Green Party and parties with strong climate protection ambitions is positively related to the market share of meat substitutes. In contrast, voting for Germany's most conservative party, which has the lowest ambitions in terms of climate protection targets, is associated with lower meat substitute consumption. Therefore, manufacturers could develop tailored marketing strategies that specifically target these voter groups in order to increase the market share of meat substitutes as alternatives to meat products.
Interest in the use of active and intelligent packaging systems for meat and meat products has increased in recent years. Active packaging refers to the incorporation of additives into packaging ...systems with the aim of maintaining or extending meat product quality and shelf-life. Active packaging systems discussed include oxygen scavengers, carbon dioxide scavengers and emitters, moisture control agents and anti-microbial packaging technologies. Intelligent packaging systems are those that monitor the condition of packaged foods to give information regarding the quality of the packaged food during transport and storage. The potential of sensor technologies, indicators (including integrity, freshness and time-temperature (TTI) indicators) and radio frequency identification (RFID) are evaluated for potential use in meat and meat products. Recognition of the benefits of active and intelligent packaging technologies by the food industry, development of economically viable packaging systems and increased consumer acceptance is necessary for commercial realisation of these packaging technologies.
In the context of impact on human health, nitrite/nitrate and related nitrogen species such as nitric oxide (NO) are a matter of increasing scientific controversy. An increase in the content of ...reactive nitrogen species may result in nitrosative stress-a deleterious process, which can be an important mediator of damage to cell structures, including lipids, membranes, proteins and DNA. Nitrates and nitrites are widespread in the environment and occur naturally in foods of plant origin as a part of the nitrogen cycle. Additionally, these compounds are used as additives to improve food quality and protect against microbial contamination and chemical changes. Some vegetables such as raw spinach, beets, celery and lettuce are considered to contain high concentrations of nitrates. Due to the high consumption of vegetables, they have been identified as the primary source of nitrates in the human diet. Processed meats are another source of nitrites in our diet because the meat industry uses nitrates/nitrites as additives in the meat curing process. Although the vast majority of consumed nitrates and nitrites come from natural vegetables and fruits rather than food additives, there is currently a great deal of consumer pressure for the production of meat products free of or with reduced quantities of these compounds. This is because, for years, the cancer risks of nitrates/nitrites have been considered, since they potentially convert into the nitrosamines that have carcinogenic effects. This has resulted in the development and rapid expansion of meat products processed with plant-derived nitrates as nitrite alternatives in meat products. On the other hand, recently, these two ions have been discussed as essential nutrients which allow nitric oxide production and thus help cardiovascular health. Thus, this manuscript reviews the main sources of dietary exposure to nitrates and nitrites, metabolism of nitrites/nitrates, and health concerns related to dietary nitrites/nitrates, with particular emphasis on the effect on nitrosative stress, the role of nitrites/nitrates in meat products and alternatives to these additives used in meat products.
To investigate the influence of food culture on the acceptability of meat substitutes, in 2023 we conducted a questionnaire survey on men and women aged 18–69 years (N = 1681) in Japan, a country ...with a food culture that regards soya as a meat substitute, focusing on ‘meaning’ in the theory of practice. Analysis of three groups—a flexible group who accept foods processed from soya as meat, a strict group who do not accept such foods as meat, and an intermediate group—showed that the flexible group tended to be more positive about the consumption of meat substitutes than the other groups. However, the flexible group was not simply more accepting, as they expressed aversion and anxiety in response to other questions. Food culture, i.e., what is understood to be meat, influences the acceptability of alternative meats. When examining the social acceptability of meat alternatives in the future, it is also important to look at social practices and historical and cultural backgrounds in a multilayered way, in addition to factors that have been emphasized in previous studies, such as consumers’ decision-making process.
Our investigation focused on foodborne outbreaks related to meat and meat products, published in peer-reviewed journals in the period 1980-2015. Most of the outbreaks, investigated in this study, ...were caused by Escherichia coli and Salmonella, causing 33 and 21 outbreaks, respectively, mostly in Europe and the United States. In the E. coli outbreaks, the total number of reported cases was 1966, of which 1543 were laboratory confirmed. The number of cases requiring hospitalization was 476, of whom 233 cases had a hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS), and the reported deaths were 32. All of the E. coli outbreaks, except four, were caused by serovar O157:H7. The other four outbreaks were caused by the following serovars: O111:H8, O26:H11, O111, and O103:H25. Fresh processed meat products were the category most frequently implicated. In the Salmonella outbreaks, the total number of all reported cases was 2279, of whom 1891 were laboratory confirmed. The number of reported cases requiring hospitalization was 94, and seven were reported dead. Regarding Salmonella, eight serovars caused those outbreaks. The most common serovar causing Salmonella-related outbreaks was Salmonella Typhimurium. The food category most frequently implicated in those outbreaks was raw-cured fermented sausages. Other organisms linked to meat-associated outbreaks, but less frequently reported, were Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, Clostridium perfringens, Clostridium botulinum, and Listeria monocytogenes. Issues of the burden of outbreaks, the challenges of comparing global outbreaks, food attribution, and how the meat industry works to meet consumer demands while maintaining food safety are discussed.
Protein, which is the main component of meat, is degraded and oxidized during meat fermentation. During fermentation, macromolecular proteins are degraded into small peptides and free amino acids, ...and oxidation leads to amino acid side chain modification, molecular crosslinking polymerization, and peptide chain cleavage. At different metabolic levels, these reactions may affect the protein structure and the color, tenderness, flavor, and edible value of fermented meat products. Lactic acid bacteria are currently a research hotspot for application in the fermented meat industry. Its growth metabolism and derivative metabolites formed during the fermentation of meat products regulate protein degradation and oxidation to a certain extent and improve product quality. Therefore, this paper mainly reviews the changes occurring in proteins in fermented meat products and their effects on the quality of the products. Referring to studies on the effects of lactic acid bacteria on protein degradation and oxidation from all over the world, this review aims to provide a relevant reference for improving the quality of fermented meat products.
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