Meat+Poultry - April 2020 - 67

chloride increase the product's water-holding
capacity. This can help control and retain fresh
meat moisture, preventing it from coming out
of the product and into the package as purge.
"This moisture includes the water-soluble
sacroplasmic proteins, which contain the myoglobin pigment responsible for meat color,"
Katen said. "Loss of this pigment through purge
results in fresh meat items with the faded, dull
or washed out look that consumers perceive as
older and undesirable."
Schwartz added, "Packaging that is seethrough will likely lose color faster due to the
meat's interaction with light. Opaque packaging
delays that color loss, but may not be seen as
'fresh' to consumers because they can't see the
product. Other technologies such as nitrogen
flush, high-pressure processing and modifiedatmosphere packaging help to change the environment in which the meat is in, in the tray, to
help slow down color loss."

sheilaf2002 - stock.adobe.com

PLANT-BASED OPPORTUNITIES
When it comes to plant-based meat analogs,
color is also important. The science behind
color delivery and changes over shelf life is
different than with animal protein and often
will vary with product formulation. The
main challenge in coloring plant-based meat
analogs is to maintain the desired shade of
color from package to plate without looking
too fake. Because plant-based products are
often targeting health- and wellness-conscious
consumers, highly stable artificial colors are
not an option.
The logical option is plant-based colors rich
in the natural reddish pigment anthocyanin.
The greatest challenge is that anthocyanins are
not very stable and can go from red to bluish
with a slight increase in pH. Identifying a stable
color is paramount.
"Consumers choosing plant-based meats tend
to be flexitarians and therefore are looking for
their products to be representative of the real
thing," said AnnMarie Kraszewski, application
scientist for Chr. Hansen, Milwaukee. "Using
natural colors requires a balance of two to
three shades to provide the 'raw' as well as the
'cooked' appearance. Several factors, including
pH and water activity, may affect the stability of a
natural color and therefore the 'fresh' appeal."
The company has a new range of cleanlabel red colors based on its proprietary sweet

potato, which took more than 10 years of
selective breeding using traditional, non-GMO
methods to develop. The result is a plantbased, brilliant red that is a natural alternative
to carmine and synthetic colors. Usage levels
vary by the meat being simulated. A ground
beef analog would require more than a poultrytype nugget.
"Sweet potato provides a stable red that
keeps the fresh appearance in plant-based
products," Kraszewski said.
Sensient Colors, St. Louis, markets a beefy
color based on beet juice. It delivers an intense,
bright, dark red shade in neutral pH environments and also stands up to heat processing.
"Food scientists are tasked with creating
a faux burger that looks, tastes and smells
just like the real thing," said Zack Henderson,
technical service manager at Sensient. "One
way to help plant-based meats imitate the
appearance of actual ground beef and maintain a simple, vegan ingredient list is color
from botanical sources. Your approach will
be different depending on aesthetic goals and
pH environment."
Beet red helps provide the pre-cook red of
a beef patty and can assist with red juices after
cooking. If the ground analog is intended to be
a cooking product, red is desirable up front,
but then some brown is necessary for cooked
beef appearance.

It's important to be
aware of product color
when it comes to plantbased meat analogs.

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