Hydrosol has launched a modular toolkit of “highly effective preservatives,” ranging from acetate to sorbate for the meat sector. With freshness a key criteria in meat products, the growth of bacteria, such as listeria or campylobacter in products can have devastating financial consequences for meat producers.

The system extends the shelf life of fresh meat, cold cuts, cooked sausage and cooked cured meats. Hydrosol’s Hydrolon range products can be used individually or in combinations as needed and successfully limit pathogen growth. 

The products’ effectiveness has been demonstrated in independent testing by certified laboratories, using mixtures in realistic conditions, the company notes. 

Food preservation gains traction
“We see a growing demand for cleaner labels concerning food preservation and safety. Therefore, we are working on a broader portfolio of cleaner label products for the meat industry. This will be an emerging trend in the future as well,” Florian Bark, product manager for meat and fish at Hydrosol, tells FoodIngredientsFirst. 

For Hydrosol, food products, especially meat products, always need to be safe for the consumer. “So we test our powdered combinations in external laboratories to prove their efficacy in the end product,” he explains. 

There are several key ingredients used for preservation. It always depends on the microbiological source needed to be inhibited, adds Bark. 

“With our modular toolkit, the preservatives range from acetate to sorbate and can be combined individually to fit the needs of the customer. For us, it’s important that our customers are flexible in applications because different meat products require different combinations of ingredients,” says Bark. 

Preserving shelf life
The protection provided by Hydrolon was tested using a pool of spoilage bacteria, including listeria. 

The company concludes that “adding Hydrolon preservatives significantly extended shelf life and improved product safety.” 

In these tests, the total bacteria count in ham products remained clearly under the defined limit values even after 35 days. 

The shelf life of raw chicken meat was extended to a total of 19 days at a storage temperature of 4°C. 

In both tests, Hydrolon did considerably better than the reference product liquid lactate. The Hydrolon toolkit system lets customers tune the function and dosage to solve specific problems.