Meat+Poultry - July 2021 - 40

SPONSORED CONTENT
Functional Protein Ingredients
Improve Yield in Meat and Poultry
and Keep Labels Clean and Simple.
T
he COVID-19 pandemic showed the food industry
that consumers want real meat and poultry. With
only 3% of consumers abstaining from the category,
according to Mintel, processors are wise to offer
today's shoppers innovative options-fresh and
frozen-to ease meal preparation and keep meat and
poultry on the center of the plate. Ensuring flavorful,
juicy products requires assistance from ingredient
technology, and now there's a new clean-label option
from Kemin Food Technologies known as Proteus®
functional proteins.
" The pandemic brought more home-cooked
meals with meat, with the shopper's eye turning to
convenience and variety, " says Anne-Marie Roerink,
President, 210 Analytics LLC, San Antonio, Texas, and
author of the Power of Meat 2021. " Food has become
more than just fuel and shoppers are looking for meat
and poultry items they believe are better-for-me and
their family. "
About one-third (32%) of shoppers surveyed for
the Power of Meat 2021 said one of the reasons they
want to consume less meat and poultry is because of
the presence of antibiotics, hormones and chemicals.
This includes ingredients often added to keep protein
moist and tender.
" Shoppers increasingly seek to understand what
is in their food, what nutrients it provides, who made
it and how it was produced, " says Ms. Roerink. " The
meat purchase is no exception. "
Proteus functional proteins provide processors
with a clean-label alternative to phosphates, which
have historically been used to improve yield and lower
cost but may affect natural taste and texture. Proteus
functional proteins can be used to achieve the same
objectives, without altering taste and texture. Made
from like protein and incorporated into the meat block
formulation, raw material input costs may be lowered
while simultaneously allowing more natural retention
of yield and a juicier bite for consumers. .
" The range of products also includes a fat block
for fried foods, " says Courtney Schwartz, Marketing
Director at Kemin. (See sidebar.) " And there are
seafood ingredient options, too. "
These ingredients are manufactured from various
cuts of beef, pork and poultry, and are labeled as
" meat " or " meat plus water " in the US when used
in certain whole muscle and processed meat and
poultry. The ingredient is applied through standard
methods such as blending, injection and vacuum
tumbling.
Kemin conducted numerous trials to evaluate the
impact of Proteus technology on meat and poultry
yield, as compared to untreated and phosphate
controls. In a trial on cooked chicken sheet meat
prepared using a typical commercial process of
maceration, vacuum tumbling and impingement
cooking, clean-label Proteus improved yield while
KEMIN INVESTS IN SUSTAINABLE INGREDIENT TECHNOLOGY.
T
he world's growing population is increasing demands on the food supply chain,
while at the same time, consumers want improved nutrition and cleaner label
ingredients. One of the larger challenges facing the industry today is how to meet the
rising demand for protein without negatively impacting cost or quality.
Recognizing these needs, Kemin Industries, Des Moines, Iowa, acquired Proteus
Industries, Inc., in March 2021, adding sustainable clean label yield enhancement
technology to the global Kemin Food Technologies portfolio of ingredient solutions.
Proteus Industries was founded in 2001 in Gloucester, Mass., as a privately
owned food technology and ingredient company that created, developed and
patented novel clean label protein ingredients and applications to improve yield,
nutrition and quality in a variety of meat and poultry and protein-based applications.
Kemin has rebranded the ingredient technology as Proteus®
, which is now available
to Kemin customers in the U.S. to help commercial food processors improve retention
of moisture and texture without reliance on artificial ingredients.
Meat+Poultry - July 2021

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