POLAND-HEALTHY PORK Polish scientists say they have developed low-calorie, low-fat pork

Record ID: 146128

  • Title: POLAND-HEALTHY PORK Polish scientists say they have developed low-calorie, low-fat pork
  • Date: 24th July 2015
  • Summary: GRAPH WITH TEST RESULT ON SCREEN
  • Embargoed: 8th August 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Poland
  • Country: Poland
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA1TWK3DPS9UY0PXF7TJ7D358CD
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Polish researchers say they have used innovative feeding and packaging methods to develop every pork-lover's dream: lower fat, lower calorie meat that maintains its quality and flavour for longer.
    The "BIOZYWNOSC" project's so-called "functional pork" has been developed as a cooperation between the Department of Human Nutrition and Consumer of Warsaw University of Life Sciences and the Institute of Genetics and Animal Breeding Polish Academy of Sciences.
    BIOZYWNOSC's meat is low fat, healthy for the heart and does not cause allergies. It has been naturally enriched with antioxidants and minerals, and contains less salt and saturated fat than standard pork products.
    "Our pork products have a reduced calorific content, a reduced fat content, an optimised amount of polyunsaturated fatty acids, a higher concentration of minerals, an increased protein content, reduced allergenicity, they do not contain polyphosphates, and have extended shelf life," the head of the Independent Department of Technology in Nutrition from Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Agnieszka Wierzbicka, said.
    The secret? A combination of factors which are still being tested and measured by Polish researchers.
    Scientists have, for one, extended the shelf life without the use of chemical additives by an innovative packaging method which uses a special gas to preserve the meat in airtight packaging, increasing shelf life by about 60 per cent and locking in nutritional value. Production methods ensure that the water is already better bound to the meat on a cellular level, preventing bacteria from spreading.
    But Wierzbicka added that taste had not been sacrificed for long shelf life.
    "Pork produced within our project has an increased protein content, so it is more springy, more supple, the taste is more natural, deeper. It requires fewer spices, smaller amounts of additives or salt because there are no aftertastes. It is clean and natural with deep taste and light, fresh aroma," she said, adding that the meat has a higher iron content which allows for an intense hue without artificial colourings.
    Sealed within the carefully air-wrapped packages is meat which has developed its high quality from an animal feed based on grain, flax seeds, polyunsaturated fatty acids derived from linseed oil and vitamin E.
    The relationship between carbohydrates, fats and proteins are balanced and tailored to the needs of the animals at different ages, allowed for appropriate growth and shaping of animal muscles.
    The feed does not contain any additives, chemicals or soy protein concentrates. Benefits from the formulated feed have to be carefully preserved during processing after they have been incorporated into animal's muscle.
    The innovative technology comes at a cost, however, resulting in meat which is five to ten per cent more expensive than traditional pork.
    But the Head of Department of Consumer Research from Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Krystyna Gutkowska, said that the research was focussed on "pleasure" as well as health concerns and that the meat produced would tick all the boxes for pork-lovers.
    "Food was, is and always will be part of hedonism. So we have to work on these kinds of products which on the one hand meet sensory requirements, and on other hand meet other consumer requirements, like the health issue, which is the new mega-trend," she said.
    The head of the BIOZYWNOSC project and director of the Institute of Genetics and Animal Breeding Polish Academy of Sciences, Professor Jaroslaw Horbanczuk, said that eating the meat developed by his team would help tackle diet-related diseases which currently cost Europe nearly 900 billion dollars a year.
    "Using these products in a normal, daily diet will have a high added value and can be an important element of the prevention of diet-related diseases," he said, adding that global demand for pork remains high.
    Currently, the meat is entering a phase of commercialisation after being recognised on an international scale at Innova, the World Exhibition on Inventions, Research and New Technologies, in Brussels.
    For the Institute of Genetics and Animal Breeding Polish Academy of Sciences' Cyprian Tomasik, the end result may be a high-price but it is also high-quality.
    "Our products are premium class. It is around 15 percent of the market in Poland. It means around 15 percent of customers will be interested in this kind of product. They have a slightly higher price than standard ones, but it's quality that motivates people to eat these kind of products," he said.
    Scientists want to share the developed technology for free between farmers and the meat industry in the whole European Union, meaning that high-quality, low-fat pork may soon be on a shelf near you.
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