Precooked Reduced-Fat Beef Patties Chemical and Sensory Quality as Affected by Sodium Ascorbate, Lactate and Phosphate

Beef-carrageenan (BC; 10% fat) patties—with sodium ascorbate (0.05%), sodium lactate (3%), sodium tripolyphosphate (0.3%), ascorbate-phos-phate, ascorbate-lactate, or none—and 20%-fat all-beef patties were cooked, aerobically or vacuum packaged, and stored at 4°C or ?20°C. Fat level had a greater effect on texture than did additives. Lactate and phosphate increased cooking yield of BC patties. Phosphate was antioxidative but not antimicrobial. Ascorbate was antioxidative and reduced aerobic plate counts (APCs) of aerobically packaged refrigerated BC. Lactate reduced APCs of both aerobically and vacuum packaged BC patties. Lactate had a prooxidative effect in aerobically-packaged/frozen patties but showed no such effect in vacuum-packaged/frozen patties or refrigerated patties. Ascorbate-phosphate was most effective in minimizing flavor deterioration in refrigerated BC patties.