324 Chapter 17
gated linoleic acid (Martin et al. 2008 ).
Vegetable fats usually melt at lower tempera-
tures than meat fats, and they are liquid at
chopping temperatures. This causes a fat
separation during preparation and also during
cooking. This separation can be reduced by
making a preemulsion using an emulsifi er
(e.g., soy protein or caseinate). As most
sausage fat is pork fat or poultry fat, which
are close to or within the dietary recommen-
dations, the real benefi t of the replacement
could be questioned.
Sodium has been targeted by replacing
sodium chloride with different mineral salt
mixtures. Most of them contain potassium
chloride. The bitterness of potassium ion
limits the total replacement of sodium with
potassium. Also, lactate as potassium salt has
been used as a partial salt replacer. As the
contents required are rather high (from 1% –
2%), the bitterness caused by potassium is a
limiting factor.
Accelerated processing (i.e., prerigor
curing) has been extensively studied over the
years. Hot boning with prerigor curing allows
a very fast processing of carcass without
cooling of sausage meats. Salt is required
at levels of 1.5% or more (in prerigor curing
as well as in the sausage batter) in order
to achieve the desired water/fat binding
(Puolanne and Terrell 1983 ). Prerigor curing
would replace the use of phosphates. Despite
the research and demonstrated positive
results, the practice has not been widely
adopted in the industry.References
Aberle , E.D. , J. C. Forrest , D. E. Gerrard , E. W. Mills.
2001. Principles of Meat Science , 4th ed. Dubuque,
Iowa : Kendall/Hunt.
Bailey , A. , and N. D. Light. 1989. Connective Tissue in
Meat and Meat Products. London and New York :
Elsevier Applied Science.
Bedie , G. K. , J. Samelis , J. N. Sofos , K. E. Belk , J. A.
Scanga , G. C. Smith. 2001. Antimicrobials in the for-
mulation to control Listeria monocytogenes post pro-
cessing contamination on frankfurters stored at 4 ° C
in vacuum packages. Journal of Food Protection
64 : 1949 – 1955.salt that is detected by the taste receptors will
be considered salty. Therefore, there have
been considerable efforts to reduce salt (i.e.,
sodium) intakes, especially via industrial
food. This reduction cannot be achieved
quickly, but over a period of years, so that
consumers gradually get used to lower salt
content in their foods. In Finland, for
example, the reduction of the average salt
content in cooked sausages from 2.3% – 2.4%
to 1.5% – 1.7 % took about twenty years
(Ruusunen and Puolanne 2005 ). In many
countries the same development has been
experienced, but all countries have not done
it yet.
The use of nitrite has been debated for
more than thirty years, and during that period,
the levels added have been lowered through
legislative actions and voluntary decisions in
the industry from about 200 mg/kg to 80 –
120 mg/kg. The industry is still looking for
possibilities for further reductions, and the
number of nitrite - free cooked sausages is
even increasing. However, no single sub-
stance that would replace all the positive
effects of nitrite (inhibition of pathogenic
bacteria and spoilage fl ora, color formation,
antioxidant capacity, effects on taste) has
been found (Cassens 1990 ). In - package pas-
teurization would allow a reduction of nitrite,
but then extra measures for pathogen safety
must be performed. In - package pasteuriza-
tion might increase the risk of spore - forming
C. botulinum , as it is not competitive when
high numbers of other bacteria are present
(Korkeala 2006 ).
Health food, or even functional food, is a
worldwide trend, and there have been
attempts to use sausages as vectors for func-
tional ingredients, including several methods
for manipulating sausage properties. Making
changes in the lipid portion of sausages
does not necessarily fulfi ll the criteria of
functional food, but it belongs to the same
trend. There are low - fat varieties, down to
6% – 10% fat. Also animal fat has been
replaced with vegetable fat or even conju-