Relevant factors in strategies for fat reduction in meat products

Growing awareness of the link between diet and health is fast changing consumer habits, so that there has been increasing demand for foods with health enhancing properties, such as low-fat meat products. This paper seeks to give a general idea of the various aspects of interest relating to product design and fat reducing strategy. These aspects concern sensory, nutritional, safety, technological, appreciation, legal and cost factors and are essential to a clear product concept, without which no product is likely to succeed. It also describes some elements that determine the feasibility of manufacturing low-fat meat products according to their structural characteristics and processing conditions, and the different quality assessments used in the study of such reformulated meat derivatives. This is particularly important for purposes of quality control and verification of product design specifications. This article does not enter into aspects relating to the influence of fat on product characteristics, fat reduction technology and use of fat replacement, which are discussed in the literature.