Pasteurized refrigerated liquid egg and stable meat product and a method for making such a product

Abstract

The present invention is directed to a food product containing a liquid egg product and a stable meat product that retains its color, flavor, and/or texture while being stored for an extended period of time in the characteristic altering environment of the liquid egg product and a method of making such a product. A meat composition is mixed with a salt mix and a carotenoid stabilizing composition to form a complex that after thermal processing allows the meat product to retain its interior and exterior color, flavor, and/or texture during storage in a liquid egg product.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The numerous advantages of the present invention may be better understood by those skilled in the art by reference to the accompanying figures in which:

FIG. 1 is a flow diagram illustrating a method for producing a stable meat product in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating a presently preferred method for forming a liquid egg composition in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating a presently preferred method for forming ham slurry for incorporation in liquid egg in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a table illustrating the color value (Hunter colorimeter a-value) for various ham products in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a table illustrating the oxidative potential of various products in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a table illustrating the presently preferred preparations of stable ham compositions that were made in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 7 is a table illustrating the flavor degradation trend of prior art ham products relative to ham products that were made in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention which have been stored in liquid egg.

Claims

1. A food product comprising: a raw comminuted meat composition;a salt mix added to the raw communited meat composition to form a tacky meat composition;a carotenoid stabilizing composition mixed with the tacky meat composition and thermally processed to form a processed meat product; anda liquid egg product for receiving the processed meat product,wherein the carotenoid stabilizing composition interacts with at least one of protein, fat, and myoglobin of the tacky meat composition to form a complex that after thermal processing allows at least one of interior and exterior color, flavor, and texture of the processed meat product to be retained for at least a shelf-life of the liquid egg product.

2. The food product of claim 1, wherein the meat composition is comminuted by grinding to increase the surface area of the meat composition.

3. The food product of claim 1, further comprising, liquid smoke added to the tacky meat composition.

4. The food product of claim 1, wherein the meat product includes at least one of ham, bacon, turkey, and Canadian bacon.

5. The food product of claim 1, wherein the carotenoid stabilizing composition is added in an amount ranging from about 0.125% to about 0.25% by weight of the meat product.

6. The food product of claim 1, wherein the carotenoid stabilizing composition includes a fat composition.

7. The food product of claim 6, wherein the fat composition includes an oleoresin composition.

8. The food product of claim 7, wherein the oleoresin composition is extracted from paprika.

9. A method of producing a food product comprising: adding a salt mix to a meat composition to form a tacky meat composition;mixing the tacky meat composition with a carotenoid stabilizing composition to create a meat precursor;processing the meat precursor thermally to form a processed meat product; andadding the processed meat product to a liquid egg product,wherein the carotenoid stabilizing composition interacts with at least one of protein, fat, and myoglobin of the tacky meat composition to form a complex that after thermal processing allows at least one of interior and exterior color, flavor, and texture of the processed meat product to be retained for at least a shelf-life of the liquid egg product.

10. The method of claim 9 further comprising, adding the meat precursor to a slurry, wherein adding the meat precursor to the liquid egg product comprises: adding the slurry to the liquid egg product.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the slurry composition contains cheese.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the slurry composition contains vegetables.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein the meat composition is comminuted by grinding.

14. The method of claim 9 further comprising, adding Liquid smoke to the tacky meat composition.

15. The method of claim 9, wherein the meat product includes at least one of ham, bacon, turkey, and Canadian bacon.

16. The method of claim 9, wherein the carotenoid stabilizing composition is added in an amount ranging from about 0.125% to about 0.25% by weight of the meat product.

17. The method of claim 9, wherein the carotenoid stabilizing composition includes a fat composition.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the fat composition includes an oleoresin composition.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the oleoresin composition is extracted from paprika.

20. A liquid egg product, comprising a piece of whole ham color stabilized with a carotenoid containing composition.

21. A liquid egg product, comprising a piece of a whole meat product color stabilized with a carotenoid containing composition.

22. The liquid egg product of claim 21, wherein the carotenoid is a carotene.

23. The liquid egg product of claim 21, wherein the carotenoid is a xanthophyll.