A Review: Value Added Meat Products With Modified Fatty Acid Profiles.
All of us have probably said, at one time or another, “you are what you eat” without fully taking into account the nuanced meaning of those words. Advanced studies in food technology and nutrition science has underscored the importance of making a life time of wise decisions about nutrition and life style to prevent metabolic syndrome and its associated pathologies. To turn a phrase, “you become what you eat”, clinically speaking, has never been more relevant or well documented. Dietary fatty acids and their role in Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) is an important topic for research by food scientists and nutritionists.
Dietary fats are the most concentrated form of energy (9 kcal/gram), they make foods more flavorful, add lubricity to processed foods, provide satiety; and, aid in the digestion of fat soluble vitamins. Studies indicate mono unsaturated (MUFA) and poly unsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) to saturated fatty acid (SFA) ratios are important dietary factors involved in the propensity for CHD.
However, foods with higher levels of MUFAs and PUFAs tend to oxidize faster (resulting in off-aromas, off-flavors and decreased nutritional value in processed foods) and result in product defects. Adapting Good Oxidation Management Practices (GOMP’s) including the incorporation of natural polyphenolic oxidation inhibitors has expanded the offerings for meat products meeting desired nutritional profile as well as the shelf life required for “heart healthy” meat products. However nutritionists have generally advised against excessive intakes of meat products due to their sodium levels and fat composition which (perhaps undeservedly) adversely affect cardiovascular health.
Adv Food Technol Nutr Sci Open J. 2016; SE(2): S18-S26. doi:10.17140/AFTNSOJ-SE-2-103
