Meat coloring agent alternative solutions

Nitrate and nitrite, as coloring agents for meat products, play an important role in the production of cured meat, which can improve the color of meat products and make them appear bright rose-red, and effectively inhibit the growth of certain spoilage bacteria and pathogenic bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus and Clostridium botulinum).

However, nitrate is unstable and can be easily oxidized to nitrite, which can cause tissue hypoxia with a short incubation period and death due to respiratory failure in severe cases after excessive nitrite enters the blood.

So far, alternatives to nitrite have been sought in 2 ways.
First, finding additives that can replace nitrite (e.g. coloring agents, multivalent chelating agents, antioxidants, bacterial inhibitors and their combinations).
Second, adding substances that block the formation of nitrosamines (e.g. sorbic acid, ascorbic acid, sorbitol and their compounds) in the case of traditional coloring agents, etc.

Ethyl maltol is a flavor enhancer prepared by using starch fermentation, and iron citrate is a nutritional fortifier. In meat processing, instead of adding nitrite, ethyl maltol and iron citrate are added to a process, which has the same effect as using nitrite color and can protect the color for a long time. The reaction of malt phenol with amino acids increases the flavor of meat.

L - ascorbic acid and nicotinamide is more commonly used food coloring additives. In the processing of meat products to add nitrite at the same time, adding L - ascorbic acid and its sodium salt, nicotinamide mixed use, can make meat products good color. The amount of ascorbic acid is usually 0.02%~0.05% of raw meat, and the amount of nicotinamide added is 0.01%~0.02%, also when curing, the raw meat is immersed in 0.02% of the mixture of aqueous solution