Meat+Poultry - August 2021 - 76

SPONSORED CONTENT
ADVERTORIAL
a healthy approach
to INNOVATION
FLORIDA FOOD PRODUCTS' VEGSTABLE® PLUS OFFERS
CLEAN-LABEL SOLUTIONS AND MORE
I
t's no secret that a growing number
of food companies are accentuating
the health attributes of their foods by
spotlighting nutrition labels and taking
a less-is-more approach to ingredient
use and product formulations. Many
meat processors are fi nding success
in adding value to products, including
brines and marinades, by asking and
listening to consumers about what
current ingredient attributes are most
important to them.
For years, injecting and tumbling
meat products in brines consisting of
a variety of functional ingredients like
sodium nitrite, sodium diacetate and
sodium phosphate were commonly
used by value-added processors of
deli meats, whole-muscle products
and meat snacks, including jerky.
With increasing consumer demand for
simpler, cleaner labels, the industry has
successfully created natural alternatives
for these with the exception of sodium
phosphate. No natural alternative
has provided all of the multifunctional
attributes of chemical phosphates.
Florida Food Products (FFP)
recognized this void in the toolkit of the
processed meat formulator and several
years ago began work in developing
a plant-based ingredient that would
fulfi ll all of the functional performance
of sodium phosphate in a clean-label
friendly way.
Phosphates are permitted in whole
muscle bone-in and boneless products.
The application of phosphates for
whole-muscle products is by injection,
vacuum or static marination. For ground
and comminuted systems such as
sausages, hot dogs, bologna and
meatballs, phosphates are applied in a
dry or a solution form.
According to Jenna Callahan, FFP
marketing coordinator, " Consumers
are looking for products that have
ingredient listings they understand.
Simply put, chemical-heavy ingredient
listings are deterring consumers
from purchasing products. Providing
consumers with a simple, short,
and easy-to-understand ingredient
statement gives them trust and peace
of mind that the product is safe and
healthy for them and their families. "
To meet the needs of processors
and new-product formulators seeking
phosphate alternatives, FFP developed
a rice bran extract designed to replace
synthetic phosphates in the production
of value-added meats, including deli
meats sausage, hot dogs, meatballs,
roast beef, jerky, marinated fresh and
cooked beef and pork. FFP's VegStable
Plus addresses today's on-trend
demand for clean-label products by
replacing chemical ingredients that are
naturally occurring while delivering great
taste and benefi ts ranging from yield
to moisture enhancement to improved
fl avor. FFP's moniker, " Real, Simple,
Better, addresses the clean label trend
while delivering quality attributes and
bottom-line results. The highly watersoluble,
powder mixes easily into a
brine or a marinade and is listed as rice
bran extract on product labels.
Reducing purge of solutions used
to enhance the fl avor and texture
of raw, refrigerated pork loin is one
attribute VegStable®
Plus delivers
when compared to similar applications
using phosphates. When used in the
production of deli ham, VegStable®
Plus
also produces comparable cook and
slicing yields to phosphates without
the shortfalls of other natural phosphate
alternatives.
ADDING BY SUBTRACTING
The trend among food companies
to simplify product formulations and
limit or eliminate ingredients as part
of the clean-label movement is hardly
new. Each year, the bandwagon
becomes more crowded as consumers
are looking for less on the labels of
products that they feed their families.
According to recent data, one
of consumers' biggest barriers to
purchasing more healthy foods is
discerning what the parameters are.
According to AlixPartners Global
Health & Wellness Research released
in June 2021, nearly 40% of US
consumers are seeking more healthy
meat and meat alternative products.
However, according to the fi ndings,
22% of global consumers said
purchasing healthy food was made
more challenging because it is hard
to fi gure out which products are good
or bad. One way to communicate to
Meat+Poultry - August 2021

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