Quantitative risk assessment on the dietary exposure of Finnish children and adults to nitrite

Nitrite intake from the consumption of cured meat and tap water was estimated for Finnish children of 1, 3 and 6 years as well as Finnish adults of 25–74 years. Nitrite content in the foods was measured by capillary electrophoresis, and was then used together with individual food consumption data from the FINDIET 2007 and DIPP studies in a stochastic exposure assessment by a Monte Carlo Risk Assessment (MCRA) program. Nitrite intake from additive sources and tap water was assessed, and more than every 10th child between the ages 3 and 6 years was estimated to have a nitrite intake exceeding the acceptable daily intake (ADI) of nitrite. The high exposure levels were caused by frequent consumption of large portions of sausages, up to 350 g day^–1 or 750 g in 3 days, among the children. Median nitrite intake from cured meat was 0.016, 0.040, 0.033 and 0.005 mg kg^–1 body weight day^–1 for children of 1, 3 and 6 years and adults, respectively. Bayesian estimation was employed to determine safe consumption levels of sausages and cold cuts for children, and these results gave rise to new national food consumption advice.     

Antioxidant effect of turmeric powder,nitrite and ascorbic acid on stored chicken mince

This investigation was carried out to evaluate the antioxidant effect of turmeric (turmeric 1000 ppm, turmeric 5000 ppm), nitrite (nitrite 200 ppm) and ascorbic acid (ascorbic acid 500 ppm) on raw minced chicken stored at 4 ± 1 °C. Physicochemical properties [pH, water activity, cooking loss, thiobarbituric acid (TBA) value, peroxide value (PV), free fatty acid (FFA)] were evaluated on 0, 2, 4 and 6th day of storage. Highly significant differences (P < 0.01) in pH, TBA value, PV and FFA value were noticed between treatments and between storage periods. TBA values were observed to be lowest for nitrite 200 ppm and then turmeric 5000 ppm, and there was no significant difference between nitrite 200 ppm and turmeric 5000 ppm, and both were superior to ascorbic acid 500 ppm and turmeric 1000 ppm. Among different treatments, PV was found to be lowest in turmeric 5000 ppm and highest in nitrite 200 ppm. FFA value was found to be lowest in turmeric 5000 ppm and highest in ascorbic acid 500 ppm among all treated samples. It can be concluded that turmeric has potential to replace synthetic antioxidants presently used in meat processing with many added advantages.     

Effect of muscle,ageing time and modified atmosphere packaging conditions on the colour,oxidative and microbiological stability of packed beef

The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of two different vacuum ageing times (7 and 14 days) and the impact of the modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) configuration (gas/product ratios: 0.5 and 1 and gas composition: 70% O₂ + 30% CO₂ and 40% O₂ + 30% CO₂ + 30% N₂) on the quality of fresh beef during subsequent storage at 4 °C. For this purpose, three separate experiments were performed. For each experiment, two different muscles (Longissimus dorsi and Biceps femoris) were sampled from four double‐muscled Belgian Blue beef carcasses. Next to colour, also the evolution in microbial load, pH, O₂ and CO₂ in the headspace and lipid oxidation at the meat surface were evaluated. A vacuum ageing for 14 days compared with 7 days resulted in a higher initial microbial load on the day of MAP packaging, which resulted finally in a significantly shorter shelf life. This ageing effect was less pronounced on the colour stability and lipid oxidation of the meat samples. No significant influence of the packaging configuration on any of the analysed parameters (colour, microbial load, pH and lipid oxidation at the meat surface) was observed.     

Woody Breast短期贮藏中肉质的变化

为研究近年来速生型肉鸡鸡胸肉硬度缺陷(woody/wooden breast,WB)俗称"木质肉"在短期贮藏中生肉肉质参数的变化。实验选取68只42日龄Cobb 500肉鸡作为研究对象,经宰杀后人工分级为低(normal,NORM)、高(severe,SEV)两组(n=34只/组)。在不同时间节点下(1、3、8 d)对所有样本测定质量、挤压力(compression force,CF)、滴水损失(drip loss,DL)、肌节长度(sarcomere length,SL)及肉破碎化指数(gravimetric fragmentation index,GFI)。对所有参数进行组间(不同WB等级间,不同时间节点)显著性分析,同时对各参数与WB等级间进行相关性分析。结果表明:SEV样本质量、CF、SL、GFI在贮藏时间节点处都显著高于NORM样本(P0.05),DL在1 d时NORM与SEV间无差异,在3~8 d时显著上升(P0.05)。CF、SL、GFI在1~3 d时,所有样本都显著减小(P0.05),3~8 d时CF无显著变化(P0.05),SL、GFI在NORM样本间无差异但在SEV样本间继续减小(P0.05)。相关性分析表明,CF、累积DL与WB等级极显著相关(P0.01),SL、GFI随时间变化与WB硬度减小存在联系。综上可知,SEV生肉肉质较NORM差,WB硬度随贮藏时间变长而减小,但其生肉品质并不会发生改变,因此对WB检测应在宰杀当天在线进行,且WB硬度由多种原因共同作用导致。     

Application of multivariate statistical analysis to quality control systems. Relevance of the stages in poultry meat production

The poultry meat production includes several stages. In this study, the whole process has been evaluated in order to determine the stages or processes which must be specially taken into account in the control system, and which other could be out of the routine controls. The study has been carried out in reverse by studying the relevance of every stages starting from the end of the process towards the initial point.A sequence of operations and consecutive statistical analyses has been performed to finally state the stages and/or operations that must be controlled.Based on the result of statistical studies, the plucking, gutting, washing and classifying stages should be considered Process Control Points. Air chilling and packaging stages are not considered checkpoints in the process verification system, although they should be included within the Good Hygiene Practices, since factors such as temperature, time, cleaning, disinfection or appropriate conditions of handling should be monitored.