Sodium Enhanced Beef: It's What's for Dinner

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http://ens-news.com/ens/jun2003/2003-06-20-09.asp#anchor8

 

Sodium Enhanced Beef: It's What's for Dinner

 

CHAMPAIGN, Illinois, June 20, 2003 (ENS) - A new study says that consumers find

lower quality roasts and beef enhanced with a sodium and phosphate solution

taste better than non-enhanced beef products.

The standard components of beef enhancement - 0.4 percent salt and 0.4 percent

phosphate - used in the study even elevated often tough and less tasty standard

grade round roasts to a quality similar to a more desirable non-enhanced steak

like a strip loin.

The findings reflect the complex qualities being juggled by the beef industry,

said Susan Brewer, a professor in the Department of Food Science and Human

Nutrition at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. Consumers who read

product labels closely, she added, can seek out enhanced cuts of beef.

While enhancement ingredients vary by producer, the Illinois study considered

only standard levels of salt and phosphate. Some producers juggle the

percentages or just use salt. They also may include different amounts of water,

sometimes flavored with broth or other extracts, and other additives in an

effort to boost the taste and juiciness of meat.

For the study, enhancement was done in cuts of beef taken from 12 Angus Hereford

steers that had been fed a standard diet or one supplemented with vitamin E,

which is being added to many slaughter bound beef cattle as a way to slow the

oxidation of the meat.

Oxidation was not studied because only fresh cuts of meat were used, but the

taste testers did determine that, in general, the presence of vitamin E in the

meat did not produce bad flavors.

Oxidation causes color and flavor deterioration, especially in cooked meat that

is not consumed right away and in irradiated beef.

Enhanced steaks without vitamin E had the lowest shear value - meaning they were

easier to cut with a knife - and were the juiciest in the view of the consumers.

Non-enhanced steaks with vitamin E were the hardest to cut and had the lowest

overall acceptability scores.

Taste testers also found that steaks from the cattle not fed vitamin E were

saltier and more flavorful - findings that were unexpected and could not be

readily explained.

" The predominant effect, " the researchers wrote, " appears to be due to

enhancement, because, regardless of vitamin E treatment, enhanced steaks and

roasts were more juicy and tender, had higher overall acceptability scores and

lower shear force values than non-enhanced cuts. "

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